


My Arrow Reboot

by lostinthearrowverse



Category: Arrow - Fandom
Genre: Arrow - Freeform, CW Arrow, Felicity Smoak - Freeform, John Diggle - Freeform, Laurel Lance - Freeform, Oliver Queen - Freeform, Roy Harper - Freeform, Team Arrow, Thea Queen - Freeform, arrow fanfiction, lauriver - Freeform, lauriver fanfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:15:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 22,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27424081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostinthearrowverse/pseuds/lostinthearrowverse
Summary: A reboot of Arrow. The events of this story will be similar to the show but I've made changes to characters, relationships and plots as I see fit
Relationships: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen
Comments: 46
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

Ollie? Are you okay? I woke up and you were gone." Laurel said questioningly.

Oliver smiled and he looked at Laurel with a soft expression on his face, as he came down the stairs. "I know, I'm sorry Laurel. I should have called or left you a note". The two of them were now standing inches apart from one another.

"Are you okay? You can tell me anything." Laurel offered.

"I know I can. And thank you for that. Listen to me, Laurel, you were wrong all those times that you said the island changed me". 

"No, no I wasn't, Ollie. It did" Laurel said shaking her head.

Oliver smiled and shook his head. "Laurel, the island scraped away everything that I wasn't. Revealed the person I have always been, the person you have always seen. Nobody in my life is who I thought they were... except for you. Nobody in my life is more important to me or more loved by me than you are" Oliver paused and he was looking in Laurel's eyes, which were growing watery. "I have to go now, Laurel. Please, if you love me at all stay out of The Glades tonight" Oliver lips crashed into Laurel's and all thoughts plaguing her mind were obliterated. He pulled away from her and walked out the front door of the Queen Mansion. She stood there for a moment but then she wiped away the few tears rolling down her cheek. William would be returning on the afternoon school bus in approximately 40 minutes and then she would drop him off for his sleepover.

Yes, Ollie (and not to mention, Tommy) told her to stay out of The Glades, but neither of them gave her a reason. If there was no particular reason, she would have to get to CNRI. Laurel had a lot of work todo, and the only time she could find to get through it was tonight. She didn't like working nights... she would rather be at home with her son. However, something that she wanted to instill in William was the reward of helping others and asking for nothing in return.

Laurel collected William from the bus. "Hi mommy" he beamed.

Laurel greeted her baby boy. "Hi, baby. How was school?" Laurel asked him, smiling.

"Good" he replied.

"What did you learn today?" she tried.

"Nothing" Of course. Typical post school day convo with the mini.

"Are you ready to spend the night at Ben's house?" Laurel laughed. 

"Yes! I am so excited!" William shouted, nearly breaking Laurel's eardrums. 

Laurel dropped William at Ben's and told Ben's mother that she and her husband were life-savers. Then, it was into The Glades and off to the CNRI building. Laurel said hello to her co-workers and sipped on room-temperature coffee while she dealt with a pile of case files that had found their way onto her desk.

Oliver and Felicity were in the Foundry. "Are you sure that you have enough Arrows?" Felicity asked as touched up Oliver's grease paint. 

"I'm not worried" Oliver replied. 

"Good. Confidence is key" said Felicity

John Diggle entered the foundry. "Plus tonight, Oliver has something he didn't have when he first took Malcolm on... me". 

"Dig", Oliver said " You might want to call Carly and tell her to get herself and Andy Jr. out of The Glades tonight" .

"I did already, Oliver. I did as soon as we figured out what Merlyn's plans were" Diggle replied. "And did you tell Laurel?"

"Yeah, I told her to stay out of The Glades" Oliver said.

"Tell her anything else?" Diggle asked. 

"Dig, I want to tell Laurel. If she is going to continue to be in my life in anyway I have to tell her. But I need to play my cards right. We have William, I can't lose him, Dig. So I have to be sure that I tell Laurel my secret in a way that she will still trust me" Oliver explained. 

"Oliver, her trust won't be worth a whole lot if she is dead. Protecting her and your son has to come before your relationships with them" Diggle advised. 

"I know. But for right now, the best way for me to protect them is for them not to know" Oliver said. 

Quentin Lance made his way down through the dark subway tunnels. Clutching the phone the vigilante had given him. "Fe-Felicity, how much time is there?"

"Stay calm!" Felicity encouraged. "I don't know when that thing is supposed activate, but there might be a clock on it. You're almost there"

Merlyn Global was mostly empty. The only person Oliver had come across was Malcolm Merlyn personal bodyguard, who he had taken down.

He reached the top floor of the building. "Malcolm" he yelled. "It's over, Malcolm" He pushed the door of Malcolm's office open. Malcolm secret safe room was exposed and his dark archer suit was missing. "He's gotta be on the roof" Oliver whispered to himself. 

"Well?" Felicity asked. Quentin was staring at The Markov Device. 

"It's worse than I was expecting. This device activates in 10 minutes. How long should the disarm take?" Quentin asked. 

"Could be done in five" Felicity said.

"Fine" Quentin said. "Give me one minute". Quentin called Laurel on his other phone. 

"Hello? Dad?" Laurel answered. 

"Honey?" Quentin said. 

"Where are you? I can't hear you, dad?" Laurel said. 

"Sweetie, are you safe?" Quentin asked.

"Yeah, I am. I'm leaving the office shortly" Laurel replied. 

"No, Laurel, now" Quentin demanded. 

"Dad-" Laurel began to say but her father cut her off. 

"Laurel, please. Laurel, I'm not going to make it" Quentin shouted. 

"What are you talking about? You're scaring me" Laurel said. 

"Sweetie, this device is activating in less than ten minutes. I might be able to stop it, but I might not, and if I-" 

Laurel cut Quentin off. "Daddy, stop. Okay. I'm leaving now". 

"I love you, Laurel" Quentin said. 

"I- I love you" Laurel said. 

Once on the roof, Oliver came face to face with the Dark Archer. 

"You're here" The Dark Archer said. Oliver punched Malcolm in the face. 

When Malcolm refocused his gaze on Oliver, he said: "that actually hurt a little bit" 

"This is gonna hurt a lot" Oliver replied as he shot an arrow toward Malcolm. Malcolm caught the arrow and smirked. "Your arrows couldn't stop me before, they won-" The Arrow in Malcolm's hand sprayed something straight into his eyes causing his to cover them with his gloved hand. 

Malcolm ignored the pain in his eyes and fought hand to hand with the younger archer. "I truly am sorry that I have you kill you" Malcolm yelled at Oliver. 

"I won't be sorry" Oliver said. Just as Malcolm was able to slice Oliver arm with one of his own arrows. This barely distracted Oliver, but it was just enough for Malcolm to knock him down. With powerful kick, Oliver's body was sent across the roof. Oliver got up as Malcom's fired a shot, but missed. Just barely. 

Malcolm angrily closed in on the younger archer. He pinned Oliver to the ledge along the roof of Merlyn Global. Oliver was hit with a wave of that sick feeling he got during his fight with Malcolm at Christmas. 

"Any last words?" Malcolm offered the curtesy.

Oliver painfully shook his head. Malcolm grabbed Oliver, pulling him back, about to throw Oliver to his death. 

Just then a bullet pierced Malcolm's upper arm. Oliver looked and saw Diggle had fired it. Oliver now grabbed and didn't waste a second as rushed the Dark Archer to the edge of the roof, pushing him over the ledge. Oliver sat down against the ledge. He looked at Diggle "Where? Where the hell were you?" he panted. 

"Felicity? What the status of the Markov device?" Diggle asked. 

"Disarmed" Felicity disclosed in a cheery tone, just as the ground began to rumble. 

"What the hell?" Diggle said. 

"I uh- what?" Felicity panicked "I guess their was another device". 

"Felicity, get under your desk" Oliver ordered

Laurel's eyes were watery. She hung up her call with with William. She had called Ben's house to make sure her son could her tell him she loved him, just in case. She felt the ground shake and she twisted her ankle, dropping a load of case files and falling on her desk. She slid over her desk and hit the hard wood floor.

Laurel passed out for a short time, but when she came to, she found her self pinned under a large piece of cement. There was way to push it off, so she unsuccessfully tried to wriggle free. "Help" Laurel desperately cried, even though she knew no one could hear her over the sounds of the earthquake and building around her crumbling. "What about Ollie?" she thought. "What about whatever happened between us last night? And what about William? Oliver may no longer be a spoiled billionaire playboy, but he isn't quite single parent material... If she died, had she done everything she possibly could have to give her child a good life?

Her thoughts were broken up by the voice of recently ex-boyfriend, Tommy Merlyn. "Tommy" Laurel shouted hoarsely.

"Laurel" Tommy shouted in response.

"You-huh-you came for me" Laurel voiced cracked.

"I love you" Tommy confessed "Alright, you are gonna be okay?" 

Tommy used every bit of muscle power to lift piece of building of Laurel. In seconds, Laurel was free. "Is there anybody else in here?" Laurel shook her head. "Go! I need to make sure of that"

"But-" Laurel cried but Tommy cut her off. 

"You have to go" 

"Laurel" Quentin shouted when he saw emerge from CNRI. 

"Daddy" she shouted and ran to him. She hugged him tightly. 

"Oh my god" Quentin exclaimed as CNRI completely.

Laurel pulled away from her father. "Tommy. Tommy!" Laurel called out, completely exasperated. Quentin pulled her back. "Dad, stop! It's Tommy, Tommy's in there".

"Laurel! Laurel, you can't. You can't. Think about William" Quentin shouted. 

"No! No! No..." Laurel cried, sobbing uncontrollably as Quentin hugged her tightly. 

Oliver was inside CNRI, squatting over Tommy's body, as the life was escaping it. He had gone in looking for Laurel. Oliver pushed back his hood and Tommy could see that he was sobbing. "Tommy, I am so sorry" he croaked.

Tommy had lost a lot of blood and even he knew that his life could not be saved. He tried to give his best buddy one final smile and he asked with final breath "Did I save Laurel?"

Oliver, wiping sweat from his forehead and tears from his cheeks, replied "Yeah, you did, buddy".

He cupped Tommy's face in both of his hands let his tears fall onto Tommy's shirt. "Tommy... Tommy? Tommy, please... Open your eyes, Tommy!... Open your eyes"


	2. Chapter 2

"I loved Tommy Merlyn. I loved him in every way you can love another person". A tear rolled down from Laurel's eye as she eulogized Tommy. "He was a hero, and he saved me. There are so many things that I never got to tell Tommy. So many I grew to admire about him and he is gone way to soon. The best thing about Tommy was that everyone he knew, he just wanted to make them happy, he wanted to make sure they were having a good day. Make them laugh, make them smile, give the a sincere compliment and make sure they believed it was true. One of the reasons I fell in love with him. I didn't expect to fall in love with Tommy. When I did, I had felt numb for so, so long and Tommy made me feel again. It was his gift. His gift I was lucky that he chose to share with me. I was so, so lucky". 

After the funeral, all of the attendees went about their typical daily business that they would tend to on any other day. Thea ran about with Roy (who was grieving the loss of close friends), Laurel's father was busy holding up operations at the SCPD, and Laurel went home. William was staying with a friend of Laurel's that night. 

Laurel took a shower and changed into a pink sweater and some jeans. 

She heard a quiet few knocks on her door. "Ollie," she said answering the door.

"Hi, Laurel," Oliver said.

"Hi". 

"You a- you looked really upset at the funeral today... I thought I would come over. See if you needed a hug, or a drink" Oliver said. 

"You can come in" Laurel invited. 

"Why is it so dark in here?" Oliver asked. 

"I don't know, I can start a fire" Laurel offered. 

"No, you don't a thing" Oliver said as he pushed the couch out the way. 

"What are you doing, Ollie?" Laurel asked. 

"Setting us up for a quiet night in" Oliver said. 

"You're staying with me tonight?" Laurel asked. 

"I would really like too if that's okay" Oliver said.

"I don't want to be alone" Laurel admitted

The fire the two of them sat in front of was warm, but not as the feeling of being wrapped up in Oliver's arms. Laurel laid her head comfortably on Oliver's shoulder. "Whatcha thinking about?" Oliver asked.

"Honestly, just us" Laurel said.

"You think there is a future for us?" Oliver asked. 

"Would it be wrong of me to hope there is" Laurel said

"No" Oliver said, shaking his head. He kissed her. "I regret how I have handled things with you-- and with Tommy. I should have been honest and told you how I felt about you. I know that I have never been good at that. I love you, Laurel". 

Laurel kissed Oliver. They kissed again and again. They made love by the fire and then once again in Laurel's bedroom.

The morning came and Laurel found herself waking up alone in her bed. She ran her hand over Oliver side of the bed. Laurel thought that he had probably gone home. She would see him later when she dropped William off with him. Maybe they could discuss going on a second first date, if last night didn't count anyway. 

Laurel got ready for the day and she picked up phone to make arrangements to pick William up. She saw a note posted on front door. She pace her phone and removed the note holding it in her hand as she read it: "Laurel, I'm writing you this note because I did not have the strength to say goodbye to you in person. I am so sorry to leave you and William behind. I love the both of you with all of my heart. This is not your fault. I will always, always love the both of you, but I can't stay in this city. Please, never doubt my love for you, Laurel." She tried to control herself as her chest began to heave and sobs escaped her mouth. Her hold on the piece of paper was lost and it floated to the floor. 

A week later, Laurel walked into Verdant. "Hey" Thea said. 

"Hey. Speedy you have sure been spending a lot of time here" Laurel said. 

"Yeah, that because this place is my club now" Thea said. 

"Really? Can- can you actually declare Verdant as yours?" Laurel asked. 

"Who is going to stop me? My brother, the owner, who abandoned his business and ran away to Europe..." Thea mocked. 

"Europe?" Laurel asked. 

"Yeah, he left me a voicemail" Thea said. 

"You would think he would've left me one to, I'm only the mother of his children" Laurel said. 

"I'm sorry, Laurel. Sometimes, Oliver is an idiot, especially when it comes to you... wait, children?" 

Laurel nodded her head. "oh my god" Thea let out. Not sure if she should squeal with excitement, hug Laurel, or call Oliver and chew him out. "Oh My God!"


	3. Chapter 3

John Diggle and Felicity Smoak touched ground on the shore of Lian Yu, the hellish island Oliver Queen had called home for 5 years, Felicity threw up in the water.

Three moths had passed since Oliver returned to Lian Yu. He had only told the Diggle the truth about where he was going. Eventually, John realized that Oliver was not going to come home on his own, so he knocked on Felicity's door in the middle of the night. Now, the two friends were on terrain off the coast of Northern China, mid-day. "Hey, thank you for holding my hair back" Felicity said, sarcastically. 

"Come on" John said as he Felicity ventured towards the rather jungle-like part of giant island. 

"Oliver. It's us" Felicity called out. John beckoned Felicity to follow him deeper through the tall grass. She heard a click from beneath her right foot. "John, what was that?" she panicked. 

John knelt down, moving the grass aside. "Felicity, you stepped on a land -mine. Don't move" 

"FELICITY! DON'T MOVE!" Felicity kept her foot on the land-mine, but twisted her upper body to see Oliver . 

Oliver was on a high tree branch. He grabbed onto a nearby and swung down toward Felicity as John jumped out of the path. Oliver's body collided with Felicity's, and the impact carried her as safe distance away from the exploding landmine that had been beneath her foot. She landed on her back with Oliver's body on top of hers, their faces only inches from one another's. "You're-- really sweaty" Felicity whimpered as she caught her breath.

Oliver rolled off of his friend and stood up, brushing of his pants. "You shouldn't have come here" Oliver said, his tone serious and brooding. He began to walk away. 

"Hey" Felicity said, as she got up and followed him. "Oliver, we came a long way... I jumped out of a plane. The least you can do is offer some water, or a coconut". 

Oliver, John, and Felicity all entered a broken down plane that Oliver was using as shelter. "Sure" Oliver said, grabbing a canteen of water. "Here. Drink". 

"Thank you" Felicity said.

"C'mon man" Diggle said. "What are you doing? It's time for you to come home".

"No" Oliver said, shaking his head. ""I failed my home, my father. I don't deserve my city anymore," Oliver said.

"The city needs you more than ever" Felicity countered. 

"Why? What good can I possibly do for them. My crusade is over" Oliver argued. 

"Then don't come home for the crusade" Felicity said. "Do it for us, your mother, your sister... your son" 

Oliver smiled slightly. "How is he?...Laurel?" "How are they?"

John took a deep breath and reported: "Well, your mother is awaiting trial for her participation in The Undertaking. Your sister has taken over management of Verdant. Roy is still obsessed with, you know the other guy-"

"And trying to emulate his crusade" Felicity interjected.

"Thank you, Felicity," John said. "Laurel found a new job working at the DA's office" Oliver's heart throbbed as he thought of Laurel. "William's okay" Diggle said. "He'd be better off with his dad around though".

"Laurel would be better off with you around, too" Felicity added.

"I'm not so sure about that" Oliver said.

"I am, you know before you left, you got Laurel pregnant" Felicity said.

Oliver facial expression changed. "I got her pregnant?" he said. He looked between his two friends who faces indicated that they were serious. "Is- is she okay?" Oliver asked.

"Honestly, Oliver, if you wanna know that, you need to go to her and figure that out yourself" Diggle stated. "You ready to come home?" 

It did sound like the people most important to him did need him home right now.

The next day, Thea was standing by Verdant, when Roy entered. "Hey" she greeted and kissed his lips.

He pulled away and he smiled. "Hey gorgeous" he replied.

"Working hard, or hardly working?" Thea raised her eyebrows and smirked.

"You think the manager would let me off easy?" Roy teased.

"Maybe. I heard she has a thing for you " Thea said seductively, and the couple began kissed passionately. Thea wrapped her arms around Roy's waist. 

"Ahhg" Roy gasped and Thea immediately backed up.

"Roy! What's wrong?" she pressed.

"Nothing!" Roy defended. "I am just really into you".

Before Roy could react, Thea lifted Roy's shirt and saw that he had a large bruise on the side of his torso. "Roy!" she shrieked." Where the hell did that come from?" Roy attempt to avoid eye contact with his girlfriend. "Roy, no, what did you do? Tell me you weren't street fighting". 

"I wasn't street fighting" Roy said, as he was met by Thea's disapproving facial expression. "Look, babe-"

A voice cut Roy off. "Thea? Oh, is this a bad time?"

"Ollie!" Thea shrieked. She whispered to Roy: "We'll talk about this later". Thea ran to hug Oliver. "Where have you been, Ollie? No texts, no calls. It was like you being on that island all over again" Thea complained. 

"I'm sorry. I just needed some time... but I really missed you " Oliver revealed.

"We missed you" Thea said.

"I heard Mayor Altman is throwing a fundraiser tonight for the relief effort from The Undertaking" Oliver said. "Are you going?" 

"I haven't actually decided yet, Ollie" Thea said

"Will Laurel be there?" Oliver asked.

"Most likely" Thea answered. "You should go. I know she would really like to see you"

Felicity walked in. "Hey" Thea said. "Good to see you" 

"You two, as always" Felicity said. "Hey Oliver, I need you're - you're help with something" 

Oliver followed Felicity down to the basement and Oliver saw that she and john had done some serious upgrading while he was gone. "What is all this?" Oliver asked as he examined all of the new stuff. 

"John and I didn't know if you were coming back, but we wanted to do this for you, in case you did" Felicity explained. "A gesture of solidarity. This crusade isn't just yours anymore. We're a team, a team needs a base, so we modified it, making feel more official. I hope you like it". 

Oliver smiled. "How could I not like it. But liking it doesn't mean I'm putting on The Hood again. Laurel's pregnant, clearly fatherhood is the part of my life that need my attention. 

That night, during the mingling, Oliver was completely stunned at the sight of Laurel... and her stomach. He walked up to her...

"Laurel, you look absolutely stunning" Laurel's new boss, ADA Adam Donner said. 

"Thank you so much, Mr. Donner" Laurel said. 

"Skip the formality, call me Adam. You are officially part of the DA's office" Adam commented. 

"Good evening , Mr. Donner, Ms. Lance" A member of city counsel greeted them good evening. 

"Good evening" Laurel said. 

"Mr. Donner" The man said. "Rumor has it that you're quite happy that Starling City's vigilante seems to have retired".

"Yes, I can't say it's shame" Adam said. 

"Wouldn't say that our great nation was built through vigilantism?" The city counsel member posed. 

"Nothing like The Hood, or any of his twisted copycats that have done nothing but bring about chaos" Adam replied. 

"And you, Ms. Lance?" The member asked.

"I would be foolish to disagree with my new boss" Laurel replied. "That being said, I do see the issue in shades of gray". 

"Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for coming out tonight. The turn out for tonight's event shows me that Starling City really does mean a lot to everybody who calls this city home. Three months ago, a terrorist attacked us, killed 503 citizens, destroyed and businesses. Truly devastated us. But Starling City, we came together when our fellow citizens truly needed us. We have a lot of re-building still to do, but though The Undertaking may have crumbled our buildings, our hearts are still strong. We will continue to give. We will continue to show the world that we love our city and each and every one of us love everyone in this city. Because we aren't just a city, we are a-

"Mayor Altman, you have failed this city!" The deep voice called out. 

"Um--" Mayor Altman said. "Please- please ignore that, we'll have this sorted out in ju-" 

"You say the Starling City love one another, but that is not true. Especially not for you, Mayor Altman. The Undertaking, the Undertaking was planned and executed right under your nose, all while you knew the people of the Glades were suffering. You looked the other way. You left us like sitting ducks and now you stand here acting like a champion for this city. You are a fraud". 

The mayor's chest was then pelted with bullets from multiple weapons. The crowd screamed as the air filled with sounds of rapid machine gun fire.

One of the gunmen seized Adam Donner by his collar. "District Attorney" he addressed as Laurel ripped the hooded gunmen away from her/ She elbowed him in his nose and kicked him the stomach sending him to floor and rolled a small flight of stairs. 

"Freeze, I'll shoot you, bitch" another gunmen threatened, pointing his gun at Laurel's face. 

".


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as Oliver arrived at the scene in the aftermath, his only concern was finding Laurel. When he did, she was with her father. "Quentin, Laurel" he greeted.

"Queen, I didn't know you were back in town" Quentin said. 

"Ollie" Laurel said, reaching out and taking her former lover's hand. "C'mon, we should talk in private" 

"Are you okay?" Oliver asked her, trying to make his voice gentle. 

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm alright. it's good to see you" Laurel replied. 

"You too... really it is" Oliver said and he hugged her. He wasn't sure how long the hug lasted. It could have been a minute, or an hour. He pulled away. "William". 

"Yeah, our son" Laurel said. 

"Laurel, I understand how angry you must be-" 

"Oliver, when left, it hurt me, but the pain you caused me pails in comparison to what your abandonment did to our son" Laurel said. 

"Let me make it up to him... and you, please. Dinner?" 

"I would love a family dinner" Laurel replied. "Oliver, I don't know if you and I is something that you want, but if it is, we're gonna have to start this healing process all over again" 

"You're still willing to give me a chance?" Oliver asked. 

"Oliver, I am willing to be your friend" Laurel said. 

"I couldn't have it any other way" Oliver said and pulled Laurel in for another hug. 

Oliver met John and Felicity in the Arrowcave. "Hey, Laurel is okay"

Okay," said John. "Thank god. How's your son?"

"Thankfully, he wasn't there" Oliver said. "I am going to see him tomorrow night. Laurel, William, and I are gonna have dinner". 

"Aw, good for you, Oliver" Felicity said "Don't forget you have a meeting at Queen Consolidated tomorrow".

"Right, Isabel Rochev. Do you know anything about her?" 

"If she buys the company, a lot of people are going to lose to jobs" Felicity said. 

"And The Hoods?" Oliver asked.

"They've been terrorizing the city for a while, but the attack the assassination of Mayor Altman, that's the farthest they have ever gone" Felicity said. 

"They'll get worse" Oliver theorized. 

"So, are we going after them" Diggle asked. 

"No" Oliver said. 

"But you said it yourself, they are just getting started" Felicity complained. 

"Everything remains on hold until I fix things with my son" Oliver said. 

"No" Dig said. "That isn't the reason, Oliver". 

"Okay, if you think that, then what is the reason" Oliver said in frustration.

"The undertaking. Isn't it?" Diggle asked. 

"If I hadn't made peace with what happened, there is no chance that I would be back in this city right now" Oliver said. 

"Fine, so if it is not?" Diggle asked. 

"I lost a friend that night, I lost Tommy" Oliver said. Neither Diggle or Felicity knew how to respond. 

"Look, Oliver" John whispered.

"Tommy knew my secret and he thought I was a murderer" Oliver said in a low voice. "If my son, if either of my children were to see me that way I-" Oliver's voice trailed off. "Under the Hood is not where I belong, not anymore". 

Early the next morning, Oliver, in the company of John and Felicity, met with Isabel Rochev at Queen Consolidated's main building.

Rochev was in the process of taking over the company that Oliver's family had worked hard to build. Oliver didn't want to let that happen. "Hello, Ms. Rochev. I'm Oliver. It is nice to meet you". He extended his hand to shake hers, but she did not take it. 

"Let's get down to business" Isabel said. "We currently both have 45% shares in Queen Consolidated. In 48 hours, the last 10% of shares in the company will be available for purchase... I will buy them and be the rightful owner".

"What makes you so sure" Oliver asked.

"Mr. Queen" she hissed. "You and your family are broke, your reputation is wrecked. Honestly the sale of this company is a gift for you."

Oliver leaned forward. "It isn't. See I watched my father die, Ms. Rochev. My father, Robert Queen, he built this company from the ground up. I won't lose this company. My father's legacy. Do you understand? I am willing to do whatever it takes" The hairs on Oliver's arms and the back of his neck all of a sudden stood up.

Oliver leaned over to Diggle, "Get Felicity out of here" he whispered. 

"What, why?" Diggle asked right as The Hoods burst into the office where the meeting was taking place.

Quickly, John ushered Felicity and Isabel to safety. 

One of Isabel's associate's took a shot to the torso. Oliver knelt beside the victim, only to be held at gunpoint himself. He looked down the barrel. "Mr. Queen" The gunman shouted "Your coming with us. 

Oliver put his hands up and slowly stood up "Let these people go." The gun man punched Oliver in the face. 

"Everyone get out of here! Move" the gunman shouted.

The Hoods had Oliver bound to a chair in their base. "If you are gonna kill me, why not get over it over with?"

"What good would killing the future CEO of Queen Consolidated do if the whole city doesn't see it happen?" One of the guys said.

"So your motivation is attention?" Oliver asked.

"No" the guy responded, harshly shining a flashlight in Oliver's face, "The motivation is to save the city. Now shut up". 

The Hoods turned on a livestream so the whole city could see that Oliver Queen was in their grips. As soon as the image appeared on Felicity's computer screens, she began the process to pick up The Hood's signature. "I got it" she shouted. "He's in an abandoned building in the Glades" Felicity gave Diggle the address. "Wait" she shouted. "We need to disguise your identity".

"Okay, quick" Dig said.

"Oliver has an extra motorcycle helmet around here somewhere- oh, here!" Felicity placed the helmet over Diggle's head. 

Laurel's eyes were glued to the livestream on her phone, tears welled up in here eyes. She couldn't lose Oliver again. William couldn't lose him. "Mommy... mommy, what are you watching?" 

"Nothing, baby" Laurel said. She stuffed her phone in her pocket. "Go brush change into jammies, and I might let you have some dessert". 

Laurel resumed the live-stream. Oliver looked so brave as the demented group of terrorist explained why they were doing this. "Innocent mothers of the Glades will never hug their sons again. I will never hold my wife again. Why should this poor little rich boy live? Why should his mass-murdering mother get the privilege of knowing that her children alive on the outside. She tore apart families. It is those families who deserve solace in knowing Moira Queen got the devastation that she brought upon them" The livestream cut abruptly. A phone call immediately came in from Thea. 

"Hello" Laurel answered. 

"Laurel" The said desperately. "My brother. Those psychopaths..." 

"I know, Thea. But I am going to ask you to trust me. Ollie is going to be okay" Laurel said. 

"How can you be so sure, Laurel?" Thea panicked. 

"I know Ollie better than anyone else, and he is not going down like this". Laurel said. 

"Hello?" one of The Hoods shouted. Their livestream and the power in the building had been cut. "I'm going to go check this out. I'll take care of it". 

A minute or so later a gunshot was heard. The other The Hoods ran in that direction with their gun on the ready. Oliver undid his bindings while the fight ensued. 

A man where one of Oliver's motorcycle helmets entered the room. "Thank you for coming, Dig" Oliver said as Diggle pulled up the face shield on the helmet". 

"What's the point of a partner if he doesn't have your back" Diggle said. 

"The Hoods, are they?-" 

Diggle cut off. "They are wounded. The police will finish the job"

Knowing The Hood's were behind bars was satisfying for Oliver, but the kidnapping forced Oliver to miss dinner with Laurel and William. He knew that Laurel would understand the circumstance, but he was sure that William had been shielded from the livestream and would just see the missed dinner as another abandonment. 

"Ollie" Laurel said when she opened the door to her apartment. 

"Hey, Laurel" Oliver replied. "I was just coming to-" Laurel grabbed Oliver and kissed him. 

After they parted, they shared a moment of silence. "I shouldn't have done that" Laurel sighed. "I'm really sorry"

"No. No" Oliver said. "It's okay. It's okay " Laurel's face flushed pink. "Is William still awake?" 

"No, I'm sorry, I put him to bed" Laurel replied. "How- how did you get out of there Ollie?" 

"The police" Oliver said. "They came to the rescue" 

Laurel gave Oliver a curious look. She shook her head. "You're lying to me"

"No, reall-" Oliver began. 

"Oliver!" Laurel demanded.

"I didn't come here to fight with you. I just wanted you to know that I'm alright". Oliver gave Laurel a light hug and started back down the hallway. 

"I know you're The Hood" Laurel said.


	5. Chapter 5

Oliver drew in a deep breath as Laurel closed the door to her apartment behind him. Laurel could see in Oliver's eyes that he thought about denying it, but he didn't. Instead he asked, "When did you figure it out... How?" 

"Ollie, I'm a lawyer, a prosecutor for the most part, so I chase the truth. When you came to me about Peter Declan, I started actively gathering evidence to figure who the vigilante was. But to tell you the truth, I was sure of who you were in the jailhouse riot" 

"How?" Oliver asked. 

"The look in your eyes... I knew that look and I knew those eyes... yours" Laurel said. 

"So you've known all this time... and you didn't say anything" Oliver said.

"I was kind of waiting for you to tell me, Ollie" Laurel admitted. 

"There are so many times that I almost told you... but then I thought about you and William, and the less you knew, the better protected the two of you were" Oliver explained. 

"So, does this mean that you fought off The Hoods all on your own?" Laurel asked.

"No, I had some help" Oliver said. "When I came back from the island and became The Hood, I had plans to fight this fight on my own, but I met people with the same goals and after so long being alone, I-- I thought I would be better off not alone". 

Laurel placed a hand on Oliver's cheek. "I never want you to feel alone, Oliver". The two of them stood there for a minute, without saying a word before Laurel took a step back. "What you have been doing, is it gonna continue?"

"I was gonna hang up the Hood. But after being kidnapped, after listening to those men, even if they were deranged, I realized that I can't. Before my father died, he told me that he was a contributor to poisoning Starling City and he told me that I was to survive whatever came next and right his wrongs. Everything I did leading up The Undertaking, that was just the beginning. Now I see that there is so much more work to be done. But I can't do it the way I was" Oliver said. 

"What are you gonna do differently?" Laurel asked. 

"I don't- I can't be the killer that I once was... I used to see nothing wrong with playing the judge, the jury, and executioner. But, William..."

"What about him?" Laurel asked with concern. 

"If William was to ever think of me as a murderer... the way... the way Tommy did" Oliver said.

"Tommy knew your secret?" Laurel asked. 

"Yeah, I wasn't gonna tell him, but the situation was desperate" Oliver said. 

"So I was not the only thing that came between the two of you" Laurel said, looking down. 

"No" Oliver said. 

"Oliver, I'm sorry" Laurel said. 

"Why, you don't have to apologize?"

"It feels that way, I shouldn't have gotten in bed with Tommy... In doing so, I hurt my two best friends" Laurel said.

"Laurel don't-" Laurel cut Oliver off. 

"I was thinking of how much you hurt me, Oliver, but even though I loved him, I can't deny that part of being with Tommy, a small part, it felt good to hurt you". After a moment of silence, Laurel said. "So, The Hood, who is he now?"

"Think a name change is a good start" Oliver said

"Maybe The Arrow?" It sounds good" Laurel said. 

"Yeah" Oliver agreed. "It really does"

Oliver stayed the night on the couch because Laurel got called into work unexpectedly and one of them had to be with William. 

"Mr. Harper" Laurel addressed Roy as she entered the interrogation room. "Looks like you took a beating"

"Yup, that's what happens when you are actually trying stop a bad guy " Roy hissed.

Laurel took a deep breath. “The Arrow- I know he saved your life your life last year and I know you have been trying to play hero ever since-" 

Roy cut Laurel off. “The Arrow- if that is what you call him, he did more than save my life. He woke me up, and inspired me. He showed the way. I don't want to be a gangbanger or a petty thief. I can be more”

"You'll get yourself killed... you nearly did tonight" Laurel said

"Where were the police tonight?" Roy asked.

After Laurel released Roy, he started walking back home. Walking through a parking garage, Roy stopped dead in his tracks, thinking how could what he was seeing be real. 

A woman, dressed in clothing, like life-size porcelain clothing, had been left there. Roy walked closer, he knew who had done this. He headed back to the police station to report the body he found. 

The next day, Oliver came to visit Laurel on her lunch break. "Hey" Laurel said, "Where's William?"

"The Queen's may not have a lot of friends left, but Raisa is family” Oliver grinned. "I was wondering how long your lunch break is?" 

"About an hour? Why?" 

Oliver leaned forwards and whispered. "There's this place I want you to see"

The last place Laurel expected Oliver to take her was the basement of Verdant and she was astonished by what Oliver was calling the Arrow-cave. “Wow, Ollie. Did you do this yourself?” Laurel asked him.

“Nope, ya know Felicity... she did all this while I was back on Lian Yu” Oliver revealed.

“Wow...” was all Laurel could

"Hey, Oliver, I did some digging and it turns out that-" Seeing Laurel, Felicity paused. "Oh, hi" she said. 

"Hey" Laurel said. "Felicity". 

"Laurel, in addition to working for Queen Consolidated, Felicity also works with me down here". Laurel nodded. 

"So you know..." Felicity said. "Good". 

Laurel's phone buzzed. "I'm gonna take this" Laurel said. 

"So she knows..." Felicity said to Oliver.

"Yeah, we can trust her, Felicity. She is the mother of my children and there is nobody who I trust more. So what were you gonna tell me?" 

"Well, it looks like The Triad has decided to take full advantage of the Undertaking. Since the quake, the police are spread so thin in Starling City... The Triad has the perfect opening to steal medicine and get away with it... and look". 

Felicity pulled up some grainy images of Chien-Na Wei in Starling time-stamped lining up with two of the recent robberies. 

Oliver shook his head. "Alright, that's good enough for me. Did you find any information about the next medicine shipment". 

"Tonight" Felicity confirmed.

Laurel walked back over where Oliver and Felicity were. "Hey Ollie, I should probably get going. But if you have a minute, I might have a little bit of intel for you". 

Oliver walked with Laurel upstairs. "That phone call was from my father. Shortly after you and Sara left on the Queen's Gambit, a serial killer, coined the dollmaker, became active in Starling city. He killed 8 females and since last night, two females victims were found. The corpses indicate his work. And he escaped from prison in the aftermath of the undertaking"

"Can you get me what the police have on this guy?" Oliver asked. 

"Sure. My dad was the lead detective on The Dollmaker's case. His real name is Barton Mathis" Laurel divulged. 

"So your father, he chasing this guy down?" Oliver asked. 

"He's doing what he can" Laurel said. "He's being careful. He is still on thin ice with the department. That is why I'm telling you about it. The police are no closer to getting Mathis behind bars again then they were months ago and now he's killing again. He needs to be stopped, he will only get more aggressive and more ambitious, Ollie". 

"I hear you" Oliver said, reassuringly. 

"Also, one more thing” Laurel said. 

"Yeah" Oliver said, 

"Roy, your sister's boyfriend, have you considered telling him you're the vigilante?" Laurel asked. 

"No" Oliver said. "Why would I do that?" 

"I know that you know what Roy has been up to? He needs guidance. I think it has to come from you, well it has to come from The Arrow". 

Oliver had succeeded at stopping the latest heist. "China White, it's over" The Arrow called out. He cautiously searched the area for the assassin, now the leader of The Triad. Seemingly out of nowhere, Oliver found himself face to face with a stranger. From over Oliver's shoulder, China White announced: “Hood, meet The Bronze Tiger. He's a friend, but no friend of yours”.

Bronze Tiger wore a glove four long blade extensions where fingers should be. He came at the Arrow with it. Oliver ducked, spun around and kicked Bronze Tiger in the abdomen. Bronze Tiger stumbled, but he didn't fall. Oliver swung a punch toward Bronze Tiger's mouth, but his fist came into contact with Bronze Tiger's claw, and his knuckles split. Oliver intended to kick Bronze Tiger, but he stumbled and fell.

As Oliver tried to get up, Bronze Tiger grabbed Oliver around his waist, pressing blades against Oliver's chest. Oliver made the risky decision to lean into the blades to reach for his bow. His blood began to drip to the ground below them.

The moment Laurel stepped out of the office and into the night, she was plagued by the feeling that somebody was watching her. She made a beeline for her car, but before she was able to get in, the reflection of a face that she would never forget. “Laurel Lance. Such beautiful skin” said Barton Mathis before gagging her and throwing her into her own vehicle.

Hiding out in an abandon vehicle a few feet away, was Roy Harper. He witnessed the kidnapping and called the police. You have reached the SCPD. There are currently no officer available to take your call. Call back later if this is not an emergency. If this is an emergency, call 911". Roy rolled his eyes. Not the first law enforcement had failed the protect the innocent people of this city. Roy would have to stop this guy himself. 

Oliver and Bronze Tiger were both back on their feet. Oliver punched Bronze tiger in the face twice. He fired three arrows and Bronze tiger blocked two of them with his claw, but the third one pierced his shoulder. Red and blue lights washed over Bronze Tiger and The Arrow. "Freeze! This is the SCPD!" 

Oliver immediately lifted himself out of the situation and he watch from a rooftop as the SCPD cuffed Bronze Tiger. 

Oliver started to head back for his base. He dropped down into an alleyway and was knocking another grappling arrow in his bow, when a voice interrupted him. It was Roy Harper. Had Roy been following him? "I need your help. I saw a woman get kidnapped and I think it could be Quentin Lance's daughter".

Laurel wasn't sure when or how she had passed out but she woke to find herself restrained in an upright position was a large that she could not remove from her mouth. Her wrists were restrained behind her back. Mathis walked into the the room with an pitcher in his hand. 

"My apologies, Ms. Lance. I truly wish that this didn't have to take so long, but I'm whipping up a special batch my famous doll-making solution just for you. Tonight, I make my last doll in this city, and I just knew that it had that it had be you. Normally, I wouldn't even think of making a doll that was with child, but your father put me away, and he needs to suffer. In the morning, I will be gone, and officer Lance will find a pretty gift on his door a step. But don't worry though, this will ensure you are always this beautiful" 

Laurel saw the time on the clock, it was just after midnight. She was abducted around two and a half hours ago. The police had to be looking for her, she prayed they would be coming through the doors any moment. They had too, most of those cops had known Laurel since she was a child. They wouldn't let this happen to her. Mathis had returned to the back area and she heard him stirring what ever was in that pitcher.


	6. Chapter 6

"You've been following me" Oliver growled. 

"No. not following, searching for you. I followed the cops" Roy replied. "Seriously, I think Laurel Lance is in trouble". 

"You're sure it was Laurel Lance?" Oliver asked. 

"No... but I know Laurel, and from what I could tell, it's likely. Look you can help me, or I can rescue her myself, but we need to go now" 

"I have a feeling about who abducted Laurel, if the victim is Laurel" Oliver said. "And I think I know where he took her" Oliver turned on his comm. "Felicity, are you still with me?" 

"Yup" Felicity said. 

"Good, where did you say Mathis hides out?"

"There's this creepy museum, The Bisque Museum. It closed years ago. That's Mathis alleged hideout" Felicity offered. 

"Bisque Museum. You heard of it?" Oliver asked Roy. 

"Yeah, actually" Roy said

"Alright, let's go. If we're right about this, take care of the victim, I'll get Mathis" Oliver ordered.

Mathis returned from the back area with the pitcher, now full of polymer. "Alright, let's get this show on the road" he said just as he and Laurel heard the sound of entry somewhere in the museum. 

Mathis released the polymer into to the tube. The polymer hit Laurel's tongue and the chemical taste overwhelmed her. 

"You're too late" Mathis called out. "Her esophagus will be solid in seconds"

The Arrow dropped down, seemingly through the roof, and shot the tube from Laurel's mouth. 

"Oh my god" Mathis said and tried to run away, only to be stopped with an arrow in the middle of his back. 

Roy freed Laurel from her restraints. She was sobbing as Oliver walked over. "Are you hurt?" he asked, as Laurel fell into his arms. Oliver kissed Laurel's forehead. 

"I looked her over, she's mostly alright" Roy said, trying to act like he didn't notice how comfortable Laurel and The Arrow were. 

"C'mon," Oliver said, scooping Laurel up and carrying her. 

"Where are you taking her?" Roy asked. 

"Home" Oliver said. 

Oliver changed out of costume back at Laurel's apartment. He had taken care of Laurel and she was sleeping, safely in her room. He had called Quentin, telling him that Laurel was safe. Oliver was sitting on the couch when William came out of his bedroom. He sat down next to Oliver and turned on the TV. 

"Buddy... what are you doing out of bed?" Oliver asked. 

"Had a nightmare" William said. 

"Oh... well, you want me to read you a story?" Oliver offered. 

"Nope" William said. Oliver nodded. He was lucky that his son was speaking to him. 

"Hey, buddy? You that I am really, really sorry that are plans fell through. I was looking forward to them too" Oliver said. 

"Then why- why did they?" William asked. 

"Sometimes things happen that nobody can control... not even mommy or daddy. William, I would never, ever let you down if I could control everything. Nobody is more important to me than you and your mom" Oliver said. 

William nodded. "Daddy, can I ask you something?" 

"You can ask me anything" Oliver said.

"If you love Mommy, then why don't you live here all the time with us? Why don't you and Mommy share a bed and go on dates and kiss each other?" William asked.

Oliver tried to hide his sadness with a smile. He knew that William would want to know about all this eventually, but he didn't know how much Laurel had told him or what she would want him to say. 

"Awhile back William, before you were born, Mommy and I, we used to do all that stuff. We were really in love. Then Daddy went and he made a mistake, a really bad mistake that he will always wish that he didn't. It made mommy very sad and it's part of the reason that I wasn't around when you were younger" Oliver said. 

"Oh" William said. 

"But Buddy, Mommy and I, we still care about each other very much and we are both very grateful for you. You understand?" William nodded. 

"In the morning, can we make mommy breakfast in bed, please?" William asked. 

"You bet" Oliver replied. 

"I'm tired, I'll take that story now" William said. 

"Sure, c'mon". Oliver took William's hand and went to tuck him in and read him a bedtime story. 

The next morning, Oliver got William up early and together they began making fresh waffles to surprise Laurel.

"Do you think I'm gonna have a little brother or a little sister?" William asked Oliver. 

"I don't know, but I would like you to have a sister. I wasn't too happy when your aunt was born, but now I don't even want to think about a life without her. Having a little sister isn't as bad as you might think". There was a knock on the door. "Alright, I'll get it. Don't touch anything. Your hands are sticky. 

Oliver pulled the door open and the last person he expected to see at Laurel's apartment was Roy. "Hey, Roy. Why are you-" 

"I came by your place. Thea said you were here" Roy said. 

"Yeah, I spent the night. Laurel... she had a rough go of it" Oliver said. 

"Yeah, I know" Roy said. "Oliver, I know what you meant when you said that I reminded you of yourself".

"You sure about that?" Oliver asked. 

"Think so" Roy said. "I'm gonna come right out and ask you? Last night, it was you and I working together... You're him, you saved my life last year?" Roy didn't need Oliver to give him an answer. He knew. 

"So what're you going do with that?" Oliver asked.

"What I am going to do is ask for your help" Roy said. "What you did for me, you didn't just saved my life. You showed me what to with it. Because of you, I am not worthless". 

"First of all, you never were, Roy. And I have nothing to do with that. But I meant it when I said that you remind me a lot of myself. You're stubborn, and I know that you have made up your mind" Oliver said. 

"So this means you're willing to train me?" Roy asked. 

"I am willing to show you how not to die" Oliver said and extended his hand for Roy to shake. 

Once Oliver and Roy's business was concluded, Oliver and William surprised Laurel with their homemade breakfast. "Do you like it?" William asked. 

"I couldn't ask for a better breakfast, my little chef" Laurel said and kissed her son on the cheek. 

"Hey buddy, can I have a minute with mommy? Then we'll clean up and we can play with your action figures for a bit... sound good?". William happily obliged, leaving his parents alone in Laurel's bedroom. 

"I'm happy you and William seem to be in a better place" Laurel said as Oliver sat beside her. 

"We're lucky to have him, Laurel" Oliver said. 

"No arguments from me" Laurel said. 

"Hey, I gotta ask you something?" Oliver asked. 

"Sure, of course" Laurel said. 

"How would you feel about coming to live with me?" Oliver said. "You and William?" 

"I uh- I don't know, Ollie. Why- why would you ask that" Laurel said. 

"I want to keep you safe, both of you. You know I'm the vigilante, which puts you in more danger than before" Oliver said. 

"I see your point" Laurel said. 

"And we're having another kid. Even though we are not a couple, it would be nice welcome our new baby into a family that lives under one roof, don't you think? Plus, with just me and Thea, the mansion is kind of... depressing" Oliver said. 

Laurel didn't say anything for a few minutes. "I-- I think William would love to move to the mansion" 

Oliver grinned. "And you?

"I-- I think your right" Laurel said. "We should live under one roof. Probably... it's a lot to think about". 

"I know, we don't have to make any decisions right now, even though I know we are both tempted to" Oliver said.

"We're just those kind of people, Ollie" Laurel said. 

"Yeah, we are" Oliver agreed.


	7. Chapter 7

Oliver and Quentin Lance were unloading boxes of Laurel and William's thing and carrying them back and forth into The Queen's Mansion. It had been been a week since Oliver and Laurel had decided on this and they had gone to Quentin and explained to him that as parents this is what they believed was best for their children. They asked for his help with moving, because although Laurel had the muscle power to move the boxes herself, she had sick with an on and off fever since being attacked by the dollmaker.

While Quentin and Oliver were in the driveway, Laurel came out of the mansion, dressed for work. "Hey" Oliver said. "You're going to work, today?"

"Of course. My fever broke and I've already taken a sick day and worked from home" Laurel said.

"Okay" Oliver said. "But call me if you need me to pick you up?"

"Okay, I promise I will" Laurel agreed.

As she drove off, Oliver noticed something unusual about Quentin's face. "Are you smiling at me?" Oliver asked, trying not to sound too suspicious. 

"Yes, Queen, I am" Quentin said. 

"You tried to put me in jail last year... why are you smiling at me?" 

"You care about Laurel, you seem to really care now, I'm not the only one who changed" Quentin remarked. 

"Quentin, I always cared about Laurel" Oliver said. 

"Sure you did, but back then, you put yourself first, did whatever you wanted, didn't think my daughter. Now I can see that you see things differently and you are going to take care of her" Quentin said. 

Oliver smiled. Something about having Quentin's approval made him genuinely happy, feel worthy of Laurel, for the first time in a long time. 

"Dig, Felicity, you've met Roy. I am going to be training him to be my teenage sidekick. You know how us billionaire vigilantes like them" Oliver joked. "Roy, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak." 

"Hi" Roy said, giving Oliver's partners a small wave. 

"Roy, go stretch, then we'll see how you hold a bow" Oliver instructed. 

He joined Diggle and Felicity at the computers. "So you're just getting him started with a bow and arrow?" Diggle asked. 

"Normally, I wouldn't, but Roy has some experience as an archer. I want to gauge his skill so I can figure out what kind of training he needs" Oliver said.

"Not that I don't support you training Roy, because trust me, I do, I'm just worried" Felicity said. "Because Laurel knows... Oliver, I wish we trust everybody, but-"Oliver cut her off.

"Felicity, while I was on Lian Yu, secrets and lies were what kept me alive. I know very well who we can trust and I am more than equip to make those calls on my own".

Felicity stared at Oliver with an open mouth like she wanted to say something, but she was not sure what that thing was. Dig said: "As long as you know what you're doing, man".

At dinner, Adam said to Laurel: "If I may say it, you look stunning, Ms. Lance".

"Thank you, Adam" Laurel replied.

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Adam.

"Yeah. Yeah- yes" Laurel stammered .

"Okay. Well, the opportunity I picked especially for you, Ms. Lance. I think you are the lawyer for the job. Adam noticed Laurel was visibly sweating. "Are you sure you're okay, Ms. Lance?" he asked 

"I honestly feel terrible" Laurel said.

"Why don't you let me take you home?" Adam offered.

Adam pulled up in front of the mansion. "Laurel " he said. "If you need a few extra days, I understand. Come back when you feel better". 

When Laurel got inside the mansion, she laid down without taking her dress or her makeup off and feel asleep.

Laurel woke up, feeling as if she was drowning in a puddle of her own sweat. Oliver had place a cold glass of water on the accent table beside her. She sipped from it and gasped with pain as she swallowed. "Hey" Oliver said. "Can I take your temperature?" 

Laurel nodded. Oliver took Laurel's temperature. "Your fever is back. How's your throat?" 

"Hurts to talk" Laurel mumbled. 

"Okay, that's it. I'm taking the day off tomorrow and we are going to see a doctor" Oliver said. 

In the doctor's office the next morning, after going through all the routines, the doctor came in to speak with Oliver and Laurel. "I'm going to be honest, I've never seen anything like this" The doctor reported. "Laurel, when the dollmaker attacked you, you didn't swallow any of the polymer, did you?

"A sip, two maybe" Laurel said. 

"I might think this could be allergic reaction, but that is a stretch" the doctor said. "I recommend a specialist. There is doctor over at Star Labs- her name is Caitlin Snow" 

"We will make an appointment" Oliver said. 

Caitlin listened to everything Oliver and Laurel told her at the appointment, periodically asking her own questions. "My next step is to take a blood sample" Caitlin explained. "Some of you symptoms line-up with allergic reaction, other's not so much". 

"Okay" Laurel said. "Whatever needs to be done". 

Caitlin took a blood sample from Laurel and went off to analyze it. When she returned she said : "Whatever brought on this illness, it wasn't purely polymer. I can't say I know what it was, and I can't say I know how to cure it. But I will figure it out, it's gonna take time though".

Oliver's phone rang. He saw it was Felicity calling. "I have to take this" he said and stepped away.

"This illness, it's not gonna hurt my child, right?" Laurel asked. ]

"Honestly, I don't know. But I am recommending that you allow me to place you in a medically-induced coma for awhile" Caitlin said. 

"Really?" Laurel asked. "It's that bad".

"I-I haven't seen anything like it" Caitlin said. 

After getting Laurel's consent, Caitlin placed Laurel in the coma and Oliver was asked to complete some paperwork. He noticed a photo on Caitlin's desk. "Hey, that's Ronnie" Oliver acknowledged. 

"My fiancé. you know him?" Caitlin asked. 

"Ronnie, Ronnie's my cousin. But he probably didn't tell you that" Oliver said. 

"No way! Ronnie doesn't really talk about his family" Caitlin said. 

"Yeah well that isn't the least bit surprising. Ronnie doesn't even use the last name Queen anymore" Oliver said. "He never liked being 'the rich boy'".

"I knew Ronnie came from a wealthy family, but had no idea. It's really good to meet you, Oliver" Caitlin said. "Laurel, is she your-" Oliver cut Caitlin off.

"She's my ex girlfriend and she's very important to me. And she is also carrying my baby. Caitlin, please tell me that you can help her" Oliver said. 

"What I can tell you is that where she is right now is the best place he can be" Caitlin said.

When Oliver returned home, he did so without Laurel. William ran up to him. "Daddy, where's Mommy?"

"Mommy's at this really fun place called Star Labs, ya know mommy hasn't been feeling well? Well, after she's finished at Star Lab's, she's gonna feel a lot better. 

The next day, Oliver took William to the anti-gun rally that was being hosted by Sebastian Blood. John, Thea, and Roy went along too. 

"Gun control is something that I am passionate about. Recently, in this wonderful city we live in, guns on the streets, especially in The Glades, has been a monumental problem. As your mayor, I will make ending this problem my top priority. In fact, my campaign team and I-" The sound of machine guns swallowed Blood's voice.

The crowd of innocent people was being ambushed by gun-toting gang members "People of the Glades, your mayor has arrived," said their leader. "Disperse or die". Oliver froze. His priority was William. Grabbing William's hand, he ran towards the car that Thea and Roy had ducked behind. "Are you okay?" he asked Thea. 

"Daddy, I'm scared, I want to go home" William cried. 

"We are, we are going home" Oliver said, as he helped Thea. Roy gave a look; a look that said we have to do something. Oliver looked over, hearing Sebastian Blood screaming at the gang leader. 

"The people of The Glades don't answer to you. They are not afraid". A gang member proceeded to shoot Sebastian three times. "They should be" he said.


	8. Chapter 8

Laurel had been comatose for a few days, Oliver had been by her side at Star Labs as much as he could. He didn't sleep much, spending most night in the Arrowcave, doing any and all research to track down. Xavier Reed. Reed had seemingly disappeared all together which grinded Oliver down to his core. Reed took a lot of innocent lives. Sebastian Blood had clung to life at Starling General for nearly two days before succumbing to his injuries. 

"William misses you" he said to her, as he ran his hand over hers. "But don't worry, I'm doing everything you have always done for him. You're a good mom, Laurel, much better than I am a father. I hate that William has to go without you. I hate being without you. Especially now. Starling City is seeking the death penalty against my mother. I'm so used to having you around when I need you. You're always there for me. I miss you". 

"Hey, um, sorry" Caitlin said, walking in on the monologue. 

"Please, this is your lab" Oliver said, playing it cool. "So, uh, anything". 

"Actually, yes. Laurel's blood. It's special" Caitlin exclaimed. 

"Excuse me" Oliver asked. 

"Well, I ran test after test only to become more and more puzzled. I brought my boss in and he ran a complete analysis. His findings suggest a theory that is only believed by some of the most forward thinkers in our field. However, it has never been proven" Caitlin said. Responding to the confusion on Oliver's face, she continued. "Laurel's blood sample suggest that she has a special hidden gene, something that has been coined a metagene".

"Okay, a metagene... Is that what is making her sick?". 

"Sick, sure. But she really isn't sick at all" Caitlin said. 

"Caitlin, I'm sorry, but she is very clearly sick" Oliver argued. 

"The polymer that Laurel swallowed was not purely polymer. Something that Barton Mathis put in there woke up Laurel's meta-gene. Since the typical human body doesn't recognize this gene, her body is attacking it as if it were an enemy. The rest of her system will accommodate, but will take some time". Caitlin said. 

"How long?" Oliver asked.

"Hopefully not much longer" Caitlin said. "But when I wake her up, it would be best for her to stay here for a bit". 

"And why is that?" Oliver asked. 

"There is a bit more to this theory... having an active meta-gene, in theory of course, gives a human being, special abilities" Caitlin revealed. 

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked 

"Well, it can be anything, when Laurel wakes up she could've acquired enhanced strength, speed, energy control..." 

"Excuse me, what?" 

"Again Oliver, it's a theory, but it is looking extremely probable" Caitlin said

Oliver entered the mansion to find Thea in front of the TV, and William cuddled up to her. 

"Hey, you guys look comfortable" Oliver said. "Whatcha watching?" 

"We were watching a superhero movie, but William fell asleep, so I'm watching the news" 

Oliver sat down next to Thea and watched the news coverage about Sebastian Blood's assassination and what that meant for the impending mayoral race. "So no one is running for mayor?" Oliver asked. 

"No not right now" Thea said. The siblings sat in silence watching the coverage until Thea said: "You home tonight?" 

"No, I don't think so" Oliver explained. "But if you aren't either, I'll get Raisa to watch William" 

"Actually, Ollie, I'll take William with me to talk to mom, if you say that's okay" Thea said.

"It is, I think a visit from her grandson is just the thing to lift mom's spirits" Oliver said. He put his arm around Thea, giving her a half-hug. 

Oliver walked into the Arrowcave. "Where's Roy?" he asked Felicity. 

"Here early" Felicity replied. 

Oliver walked over to the training area and watched Roy work on target practice with Oliver's old wooden bow. Oliver could tell that Roy had tuned the rest of the world out. It was just Roy, his weapon and the space between him and his target. Oliver felt a sense of pride, even though he knew that Roy brought this level of skill on his own. Roy turned around. "Hey" he said.

"Roy, who taught you your form?" Oliver asked.

"My old man" Roy said. "That was a long time ago".

"Well you retained it well, I mean for standing and shooting" Oliver complimented him. 

"But to do what you do-" Roy began, before Oliver finished the sentence.

"You got your work cut out for you, put the bow down, start warming up. I'm gonna join you" Oliver said. 

Oliver and Roy warmed up with stretching, push up, and boxing and spent the next couple of hours introducing Roy various martial arts styles. "Are you familiar with any of these styles?" 

"Sure, familiar, like I know what they are, but unfamiliar like I can't do them" Roy said.

"Okay, don't worry about it. Will start with strengthening your acrobatics and then I'll start teaching you karate" Oliver said. 

"Okay, but Oliver this sounds like this gonna take years" Roy said. 

"It is" Oliver replied. 

"But Oliv-" Oliver cut Roy off. 

"Roy, I wasn't capable of any of this before, and I spent years getting my ass kicked, if you want this as badly as I think you do, than hear what I have to say now, this is going to take time. If it doesn't, you're no good, and I am going to make you good" Oliver said. Roy nodded. "That being said, I know you want to get out there, and that won't take years. I will get you out there. Some of the best learning comes by doing. If my teachers held me back, I wouldn't be doing what I am today"

"As long as I can go out there and fight before I'm 80, I can live with that Roy said" 

Over the next week, Oliver worked intensively with Roy, every minute he was not either at Queen Consolidated or at Laurel's bedside. He and Roy worked on strength training, archery, acrobatics, karate, boxing, and eskrima. 

Oliver came in ready to pick up where they left off, and he found Roy, John and Felicity talking. "Hey, mind filling me in?" Oliver asked. 

"Vertigo is on the streets again" Roy said. "More people then ever are seemingly using it"

Oliver's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Nearly the whole city" Roy said. 

"The Count must be out for revenge" John said. 

"First thing I need to do is figure out if the count is still incarcerated. Felicity that should be easy enough for you to figure out, right?" 

"On it" Felicity chirped. 

At the end of the night, Oliver checked back in with Felicity. "So the count was moved to Iron Heights earlier this year, a month before the undertaking..." 

"Right" Oliver said. 

"But it seems that he is now at large" Felicity said. 

"Okay, how long has it been since he escaped?" Oliver asked. 

"Well, according to the prison records, he escaped with several other dangerous prisoners the night of the quake, including Barton Mathis" Felicity explained. 

"The Count must be distributing Vertigo undercover, we need to figure how, and fast" Oliver said.

"You going to visit Laurel?" Felicity asked. 

"No, going home. I need to be with my son" Oliver said. "Call me if you find out anything please". 

Oliver got home and was headed to kiss William goodnight, when he heard Thea in the kitchen. "Oh hey, Ollie" she said. She was making herself an ice cream sundae.

"Wow, sundae looks good. Can I have one?" Oliver asked. 

"I'll scoop, but you have to top it yourself" Thea said. 

"Deal" Oliver said "How's mom?"

"You were right, she was happy to see William. It seems that she is a little too calm about the trial on Monday" Thea said. 

"You say that like it's a bad thing" Oliver said. 

"It isn't, it's just... mom, she kept looking at me with this look... like she is a keeping a secret" Thea said. 

"Mom has a lot going on, Thea" Oliver said, even though he knew better than to doubt that his mother had secrets.

"I know, I know she is going through a lot. I don't want to accuse her. But it scares me if she is because secrets are what now has her life hanging in balance" Thea said.

"I know. I'm gonna visit mom tomorrow, okay? If she is keeping a secret, she's doing it to protect us. I can, I can get it out of her" Oliver said. 

"Okay, but don't push her, Ollie. And don't tell her I said anything" Thea said. 

Oliver entered the visitation room at Iron Heights and as soon as a guard brought his mother out, he hugged her. "I'm so happy to see you, mom. It's been too long". 

"Yes, it has, I heard about Laurel. How are you doing?" Moira asked. 

"I'm fine, mom" Oliver said.

"And your work at QC?" Moira asked. 

"It's going well, right now I have control over the company, so better than before, but being a CEO is so much harder than I ever imagined" Oliver admitted. 

"Your father would be so proud of you" Moira said.

"I know he would" Oliver said. "Mom, I want to talk about you and the trial on Monday". 

"Sure. Sure, sweetheart" Moira said. 

"How do you feel about it?" Oliver asked. 

"Fine. I feel fine" Moira replied. 

"Not nervous?" asked Oliver. "You are facing death penalty charges"

"I'm not nervous, Oliver. I did a very bad thing and if comes to that-" Oliver cut Moira off. 

"Don't even finish that sentence, mom. There is no way I'm letting anyone take you away from me, away from Thea, from William..." Oliver said. Looking Moira in the eye, he knew exactly what Thea was talking about. "Your lawyer been here lately?" Oliver asked. 

"Ms. Horton has been here constantly" Moira said. 

"Well as long as you told her everything that she needs to know..." Oliver said. 

"Of course, I have" Moira said. 

"Hey, hey, I'm not accusing you of anything, I just can't lose you, mom" Oliver said.

Later that evening, Cecile Horton walked into Iron Heights to meet with Moira. "Hi, Moira, I was told you needed to talk to me and that it was urgent". 

"Yes, I think you should know something about the nature of Malcolm Merlyn and I's relationship. My husband, Robert, I loved him dearly, even with his faults. Their were more a few affairs that happened during our marriage, one of them being an affair of mine-- with Malcolm" Moira explained. 

Cecile was quiet for a minute. "This does make my job harder, Moira, but not impossible. I appreciate you telling me this. Does anybody know?" 

"Myself, Malcolm, and Robert" Moira said.

"Okay" Cecile said. "Well, this isn't something that can stay a secret in court unfortunately, so I would tell anybody who you don't want to find out that way before the trial begins"


	9. Chapter 9

Thea and Oliver both came early to the courthouse on the Monday morning that Moira's trial was scheduled. "Hey" Thea said, hugging her brother. "Where's William?" 

"At Star Labs with Quentin" Oliver said. "You seen mom yet?" 

"Not yet" Thea said. 

"Okay, we'll see her together" Oliver said, feeling better about the three of them being united. 

"Why weren't you home last night?" Thea asked. 

"I-uh, was at Verdant. Ask Roy" Oliver lied. He had been at Verdant, downstairs. And then on the streets, for semi-successful night of searching for Cecil Adams and taking down his Vertigo operation that seemed to be spreading around the city much faster than it had last year. Thea opened her mouth to say something, but Oliver beat her to it. "Let's go see mom" he said. 

Moira hugged both her children, grateful to both of them for coming early and supporting her. "I'm really grateful for you both, I don't know what I ever did to deserve you two". 

"Of course, we're gonna be here for you, mom" Thea said. 

"I want talk to you both before my trial begins. Will you come with me?" Moira asked. Oliver, his sister and his mother gathered in a private room in the back of the courthouse.

"I did something along time ago, that I thought I would bring as a secret with me to my grave, but because of this trial, inevitably, my past will be exposed to the entire city, the world,... I wanted my children to know it first and to know that if I had known then what I know now, I..." Moira didn't finish her sentence. She said: "I love you, Thea and Oliver. I love you both with all of heart and everything I have ever done, I have with you're best interest in my heart... I loved your father very much too, but I made a mistake. At the time, my heart was filled with anger and jealousy. I found out your father had another affair. He did all of usual tricks. Gifts, fancy dates, vacations, did everything he always did when I found out. I told him I forgave him, but I didn't. I couldn't. I wanted your father to feel how I did" Moira revealed. 

"You had an affair" Thea said. Moira nodded. 

Thea took a deep breath. "It's okay, mom. I get it. After dad cheated on you, it makes sense that you-" 

Moira interrupted Thea. "The fact is, I had an affair with Malcolm". 

The room was silent. Thea finally broke the silence. "You lied to me". 

"I never intended-" Moira began but Thea cut her off. 

"You said that you didn't cheat on dad with Malcolm... a blatant lie" Thea said. 

"Thea, it was so, so long ago. It- it was before you were born" Moira said. 

"Stop- stop defending it. You lied to me" Thea yelled. 

"Yes" Oliver said. "Yes, she did. But it doesn't matter right now. We will talk about this once Starling City acquits mom and we can all go home". 

"Oliver, I need you to be prepared for possibility of a different outcome" Moira said. 

"I won't" Oliver said, with dead seriousness in his eyes. Thea walked out of the family meeting. "I'm gonna go talk to Thea alone, mom". 

"Wait, Oliver, are you angry?" Moira asked. 

Oliver didn't answer for a moment. "I... I'm not angry" he said.

Oliver followed his sister out of the courthouse and found her standing a few feet away from where the flu vaccine truck was parked. "Thea, let's talk about this. Why are reacting like this? I know mom lied, but I thought that you were realizing that there are somethings from mom's past that we as her children, don't get to have an opinion on..." 

"We don't get to have an opinion on this, Ollie?" Thea shot back. "Are you understanding the gravity of what mom admitted too. First get this clear, mom doesn't stand a chance. She dug her own grave. And secondly, I don't care how long ago it was, she lied. And she should have been honest then". 

"I can't say I disagree with you" Oliver said

"Then why are you out here?" Thea argued. 

"Because you are wrong about one thing. Mom stands a chance. She does, if the three of us stick together" Oliver said. "I have to believe that anyone, even somebody dug in that deep, can come through it. I know it, I've seen it. But it is only gonna happen for mom, with us. Nothing else matters".

"Maybe you are right, Ollie" Thea said.

"Okay, then" Oliver said turning around and expecting Thea to do the same. 

"Wait" Thea said.

"What?" Oliver said. 

"I'm not ready" Thea replied. 

The trial began and Laurel's boss, Adam Donner, was the lead prosecutor who's intention it was to see that Moira received the death penalty. Oliver sat behind Moira and Thea and Roy had joined him. Oliver knew that Thea was going to be called as a witness and he was hoping that Thea was still going be loyal to their mother. John got up and walked out the court room and into the lobby. Oliver quickly got up and followed him. 

In the lobby, John was sitting against the wall. "John?" Oliver said. 

"Something is very wrong" John said. Oliver heard Thea being called to the witness stand. "I got a- a flu shot- a flu shot outside- but I-" 

"Okay, it's okay. I'll call Felicity. She'll pick you up, okay?" Oliver said. Diggle nodded dizzily. 

Oliver pulled out his phone, but before he could call Felicity, his phone rang with a call from Star Labs. "Caitlin?"

"I'm gonna Laurel up" Caitlin immediately said on the other end. 

"Now?" Oliver asked.

"I have no reason to keep her under. Her blood normalized, and she is seemingly symptomless" Oliver took a breath of relief. "Your son and her father are here, I thought you might want to be too. But I know your mom's trial is happening..." 

"I know" Oliver said. "But nothing is more important than this. My mom would agree too. Listen I know I have asked a lot of you, but my friend is sick. Would you be willing to evaluate him once we get down there?" 

"Of course" Caitlin said. "I'm a doctor". 

Oliver sent Roy a text to tell him what was going on, then he helped John get up and headed to Star Labs. Caitlin quickly took John off to evaluate him and Oliver joined Quentin and William as Laurel started to come to. "Oliver, dad" Laurel said, her voice quieter than Oliver ever heard before. Oliver saw a giant smile come to William's face. Laurel managed a smile too. "My beautiful boy" she whispered, reaching out for his hand. 

William took Laurel's hand and kissed her on her forehead. "I'm glad you're awake. Did Star Labs make you feel better? Just like daddy said?" 

Laurel didn't answer, she was too tired for a big conversation. She just let her son hug her. 

Quentin kissed his daughter on the forehead. 

Laurel's eyes met Oliver's. "Hey" he said. "I'm glad you're awake. I- missed you" Laurel nodded. Oliver reached taking Laurel's hand. 

"C'mon William" Quentin said, knowing the Oliver and Laurel would want to be alone for a moment. "Let's go stretch ours legs".

"... Ollie" Laurel said, after her father and son had walked away. "Did Caitlin figure out what's wrong with me? Can she fix it?" 

"There is nothing to fix" He leaned down and kissed Laurel, not being able hold back. He broke the kiss and said, "You are perfect" and kissed her again.

 **A/N I was going to keep writing this chapter, but it feels right to end it here.**

**Also to avoid confusion in future chapters, in this story, The Flash and Supergirl take place in Starling City. I know it seems crowded, but just imagine a super city (HUGE).**


	10. Chapter 10

Caitlin entered the area Oliver and Laurel were in at the perfect moment, within seconds after they stopped kissing. "I have a result on your friend, Oliver". Laurel looked at Oliver with concern. "It isn't great. Vertigo". 

"Vertigo. Great" Oliver said.

"But Vertigo like I have never seen it before. Would you mind if I tested your blood?" Caitlin asked. 

"I guess not, but for what?" Oliver asked. 

"John needs clean blood for a blood transfusion. I'm fresh out of his blood type and I've already tested Laurel's father" Caitlin said. 

"You do whatever you need to do" Oliver said. 

"If his blood isn't a match, test mine" Laurel said. 

"Absolutely, not" Caitlin said. "There is no way I will be using the blood my pregnant patient who just came out of her coma. Speaking of which, once I complete the transfusion, I want to conduct an ultrasound and run some other tests". 

"The blood transfusion, how long is that going to take?" Oliver asked.

"A few minutes" Caitlin said. "The sooner we do it, the better". 

After analyzing the blood Caitlin drew from Oliver, she determined that they were a match and went through with the transfusion. As she led Oliver back the area Laurel, she explained that John would need to rest for a while and she would check up on him. 

"Are you sure the both of you don't want to know the gender of your baby?" Caitlin asked. 

"Positive" Laurel said. "I was surprised with William and I want to be surprised again". 

Caitlin didn't say much during the process, but when she was finished she smiled. "If continues how it is going now, look forward to a healthy baby, you two". 

Oliver leaned over and kissed Laurel's forehead. "I'm gonna go back to my mom's trial, and then I will be back tonight" Oliver said to Caitlin. 

"Sorry, Oliver but you aren't going anywhere. You can't right after a blood transfusion, You are going to have to stay here"

"But-" Oliver said.

"If I could let you go, I would, Oliver. But I can't" Caitlin said and turned to leave. "You'll have to wait a few a hours". 

"Wait" Laurel said. "What about me? Now that I am up, I can go home?" 

"No, Laurel, while you were under, my boss and I found that our tests strongly implied that your encounter with the dollmaker, or more accurately what he put in your body, activated something some people in our field, call a meta-gene" Caitlin says. "That is what we feel was most likely causing your sick reaction" 

There was a long period silence and then Laurel said: "What does it say?"

"What does it-?" Caitlin began. Laurel cut her off.

"Every gene says something about you. Hair color, eye color, hitchhiker's thumb". 

"I wish I could give you that answer, but this gene has never actually been seen before, as far as I know. It's been a theory for a long time. According to the theory people with an active metahuman possess one or a few abilities; special abilities, it could be anything. I want to keep you here, to see if we trigger your ability, so it doesn't happen randomly. Since we don't know how it can affect you or other people" Caitlin explained.

"Okay" Laurel said, quietly, but clearly unhappy. 

"Are you sure?" Oliver said, lightly taking her hand. 

"Yes, I'm sure. It is what is best for the people I love. Until I know what this gene has awakened in me, this is how I keep William safe, and you". 

Oliver sent Thea a text explaining that he wouldn't be able to return to the trial and asked her to bring him and Laurel some dinner afterwards and catch him up on what he had missed. He looked up and smiled at Laurel. "I guess I'm hanging here with you". 

"Did it look bad? Me leaving?" Oliver asked, once Thea had arrived. 

Cecile didn't say anything, but I can't imagine that it looked good" Thea said, disapprovingly. The Queen siblings were both sitting by Laurel's side eating the dinner that Thea had picked up for the three of them. Laurel's appetite was weak, so she munched a bread roll and had a bowl of soup with it. "So what are the tests like?" Thea asked. 

"More painful than I was expecting?" Laurel said. "But safe, totally safe. Caitlin has been using some sort brain-machine she and a co-worker developed, like a thinking-cap, but I guess what does is trick my brain into thinking I am in serious serious pain or serious danger, experiencing extreme temperatures, my worst fears, even though I'm not". 

"I don't mean this how it is going to sound, but cool" Oliver said. 

"No worries, it is pretty freaking cool" Laurel said. "But unfortunately, nothing has worked. My new ability, if I really do have one, it hasn't come to light yet. Which means more testing tomorrow".

"If anyone can get through this, it's you" Oliver assured Laurel, giving her hand a squeeze, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Thea. 

"Thanks" Laurel whispered. 

"Tomorrow night, I'm gonna bring William to visit" Oliver said. 

"You better" Laurel said. 

"You're a gonna see him everyday" Oliver promised. 

As Oliver talked, Laurel focused on the look in Thea's eyes. She knew something was bothering her. Laurel interrupted Oliver. 

"I'm getting kid of tired. I'm sorry, the testing had been-" 

Oliver finished the sentence for her "rigorous" 

"Exactly. Rigorous" Laurel said. 

"Well, I'll head out then, but I'll check on John first". He stood up and kissed Laurel's forehead. 

"Give William an extra kiss for me" Laurel asked, looking deeply into Oliver's blue eyes. 

"Of course, I will" he promised. He intended to keep that promise, but first he would spend a few hours under the hood, patrolling the street, hopefully getting a step closer to finding Adams. 

After Oliver left, Thea joined Laurel, sitting next to her on her cot. "You comfortable here?" Thea asked. 

"Sure. They are doing there best. But I already miss home" Laurel admitted. Thea leaned in, giving Laurel a sisterly hug. 

"Are you okay?" Laurel asked Thea. 

"You have been awake less than a day, and you are worried about me?" Thea asked. 

"Yes" Laurel replied. 

"I'm- i'm fine" Thea sighed. "It's just been a long day". 

"I'm here for you" Laurel remarked. 

"I know" Thea said. "I don't if Ollie told you-- no, never-"

"Thea" Laurel insisted

"My mom - she cheated on my dad..."

"Oh Thea-I" Laurel began to say. 

"Wait" Thea said. "It isn't really the prospect of the cheating that bothers me, she cheated with Malcolm". 

"Malcolm- Malcolm Merlyn" Laurel sputtered, a hot feeling coming to her cheeks, suddenly reminded of Tommy and how he died. Laurel opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. 

"At the time, Malcolm and my father were really close. My mother was tired of my father's constant affairs, so she did it for revenge. And... and I get it. I mean if Roy cheated on me, I would do the exact same thing" 

Laurel's mind became immersed in thoughts of how she unknowingly did the same thing as well, when it came to Tommy and Oliver. "Makes sense" Laurel mumbled. 

"That means I am just like her, Laurel. And I love her, but I don't want to be like her". 

Oliver awoke to repeated notifications on his phone and all of his texts were from Thea. 

" _Where are you?_ "

" _I hope whatever you are doing is important_ " 

" _Are you with Laurel? Why aren't you checking your phone_ "

According to the time at the top of Oliver's phone screen, saying he overslept would be an understatement. He put some clothe, smoothed at his bedhead and left for court. He got here in time as everyone was getting settled back in after a short recess. 

Oliver scooted in the spot on the bench next to Thea. He didn't say anything but gave her a look that said: "I'm so sorry". 

Laurel found herself waking on cold floor of an abandoned building, feeling as ill as she had before the coma. She wanted to call out someone, but something told her it wasn't safe. She got up and started walking the building becoming more and more familiar. Oh no. How could she be back here?


	11. Chapter 11

All Laurel could smell was the overwhelming scent of polymer and now she knew exactly where was heading. At first hadn't noticed herself walking, but now she was almost there. She couldn't hear anything except her own heartbeat. Louder than any sound she had ever hear before. 

She turned down a hallway leading her right towards the Dollmaker's torture chamber. She started to wonder if she had ever really gotten away, if Oliver had really saved her. Maybe he hadn't, maybe the dollmaker had abandoned his plans, and left her there to rot and die. Maybe she was dying, and she was having an out-of-body experience. 

But to her horror, when she finally entered the awful room where the dollmaker had once carried out his deeds, it was not her own body strapped up helplessly, but William and he looked terrified. 

"My baby" she whimpered and ran to him, frantically trying to free him. "C'mon". She yanked the tube from his mouth. "William, baby, are you okay?"

Before the boy could answer a green-tipped arrow has embedded itself into his throat. Laurel screamed. 

There he stood. His hood pulled down, she couldn't see his eyes. She was shaking all over. "Oliver, how could you?" 

He took two steps toward her and then he lunged, grabbing her collar. "You think I wanted to kill my own son?" he roared. "I did what had to be done"

"I-" Laurel's sobs stole her ability to speak. She frantically scanned the room for a towel to wipe away William's blood. She knew couldn't save him, but it was her baby boy and she couldn't do nothing. 

"He had to die" Oliver growled.

"No" was all that Laurel could force out. 

"Don't you see, he was a mistake to begin with, just like you. You knew I never loved you, Laurel. And that is why you tried to baby-trap me. Did you really think it was going to work?" Oliver sneered at her. 

"I-I" 

"Shut up! Sara was everything you weren't and you knew it. You always knew your little sister was better than you. Brave, intelligent, sexy, spontaneous. She was my soulmate. You were my mistake. You killed her. When you told me your were pregnant, I knew it was my last chance, our last chance, me and Sara, to get away. And the boat went down. It should've been you, Laurel. How gratifying it would've been to watch you drown". 

Laurel sat up straight on the Star Labs medical bed, feeling something coming up her throat. And she let it out. She screamed. The scream was powerful. It blasted the room around her. The over head light fixture crashed to the ground, leaving her in the dark. 

When the emergency power kicked on, Laurel saw that the room appeared like it had been hit by a siren's cry. Medical instruments were lying broken all over the floor. The walls themselves were still vibrating. 

Caitlin and Diggle both came rushing into the room. Laurel looked at them fearfully. "What just happened?" 

"I could ask you the same question" Caitlin replied. "You were sleeping, I was in the process discharging Mr. Diggle". 

"I didn't mean to, I don't know what happened" Laurel said. Diggle grabbed and held Laurel's hand. 

"It's okay" Caitlin said.

"I had a nightmare, I- I think. Can I call my son?" 

The Queen family and the people supporting them sat through Adam Donner questioning all of his witnesses, a lot of them being people who lived in the Glades and Oliver could see that both Moira and Thea were avoiding making eye contact. 

Adam Donner was questioning his last witness: "Is it or is not your opinion that Moi-ummph- sorry Moira Queen de-deserves... um" Donner struggled. 

"Are you okay, Mr. Donner?" asked the witness on the podium. 

"Yes, I'm" Adam collapsed, causing a commotion.

John was on the phone with Oliver in the hallway, while Caitlin interviewed Laurel. "You can tell me about the nightmare" Caitlin encouraged. 

"I don't want to" Laurel said. "I want to talk to Ollie". 

"Okay, fine" Caitlin said. 

"But there is something I don't understand, the testing you put me through was supposed to expose me to my greatest fear, but that dream was far worse" Laurel said. 

"The thing I can tell you is the human mind is funny, maybe that nightmare was exposing something so deep down, you didn't even know that it existed" Caitlin said, getting a nod from her patient. "Now I am going to do all of the basic doctor stuff, check your eyes, your ears, take your temperature, then we can talk about this uh-sonic cry".

Diggle walked back into the room. "Oliver is on his way here" he said.

"What about the trial?" Laurel asked. 

"The prosecutor collapsed" John said. "The rest of the trial is on delay". 

"The prosecutor is my boss, is he okay?" Laurel asked. 

"He's on route to the hospital" Diggle said. 

As Oliver exited the courthouse, he saw the flu shot van parked in the same place as usual. When he was sure nobody was watching him, he snuck in the back of the van and grabbed the man inside by surprise, wrapping an arm around his neck. Before Oliver said anything, the frightened attendant croaked: "Please, don't hurt me" 

"I won't, if you tell me where to find the count" Oliver said. 

"I can't" the attendant protested. 

"Yes, you can" Oliver said. 

"No, I can't. I don't know. Nobody does" the man insisted. 

"You're lying" Oliver said. 

"I- I'm not lying. All I can give you is last place where anybody saw him alive. Where he stole the vans. But the count is a ghost, man. " The man said. 

"Yeah, well then why are you still injecting his poison into innocent people" Oliver said. 

"There's no proof that the count dropped. And he doesn't forget a vendetta. Do you how many people he's killed. When I got involved with his operation, I was just slinging drugs, but nothing like vertigo, harmless stuff, I never wanted to hurt anybody. But I'm in big trouble, man" 

"Tell me where the vans were stolen from" Oliver barked. 

"Why do you need to know?" asked the attendant. 

Oliver seized the man's wrist: "You 60 second's to tell me or I break your wrist".

When Oliver arrived at Star Labs, Diggle was waiting for him outside. "Hey, how you feeling?" Oliver asked him. 

"Better, because of you. Thank you, Oliver. I owe you one" Diggle said. 

"No, Dig, you know that you don't. How's Laurel?" Oliver asked. "You said, she may have stumbled her meta-power?" 

"Well, I don't how she is, but I do know she brought down a light fixture and shattered glass and metal with a scream" Diggle said. 

"What?-" Oliver pushed passed Diggle and Laurel as fast as possible. Oliver couldn't believe the scene around him. Laurel did this? 

"Oliver, careful" Caitlin warned. 

"Laurel" Oliver said. "What happened?" 

"I think it's pretty clear what happened" Laurel said plainly. 

"So this is your meta-ability? A powerful scream?" Oliver asked. 

"Not just powerful. Sonic" Caitlin revealed, leaving Oliver at a loss for words. 

"When I screamed, I could see it" Laurel explained. 

"The scream?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, I know that it sounds crazy" Laurel said, nodding her head. 

"No, it doesn't, not as crazy the idea of as human being running a fast as lightning" Oliver said. 

"What about Superman?" John suggested, as he walked in the room. 

"Is Superman an extraterrestrial?" Oliver asked. 

"That's what people assume" Diggle said. 

"Would you two mind?" Caitlin asked.

"Of course, me and him will be right back" Oliver said, grabbing John's arm and leading him out of the room. 

"Hey, can you bring William to visit Laurel tonight?" Oliver asked. Please, it would be a huge help to me if you could..." 

"I would love too, normally, but I- I kinda got a thing tonight" Diggle said.

"Oh... what kinda thing?" Oliver asked. 

"The kinda thing that I have to buy flowers for" John said. "Why can't you bring William to visit her?" 

"I was going to, but I have business in the field that I have already put off for to long. It's okay though, I'm sure Thea or Quentin won't mind". 

Before leaving Star Labs, Oliver got the opportunity to talk to Laurel alone. He held her hand while she told what had happened in her nightmare.

He had a horrible look on his face. "I'm sorry" Laurel said.

"You think I feel that way?" Oliver asked. 

"No, it was just a dream" Laurel said. 

"It had to come from somewhere" Oliver protested. "Laurel, I love our son, and I love you". 

"I love you two, I really love you" Laurel admittedly. "I just want this be over, I want to be at home" 

Oliver sat down on the bed next to Laurel, pulled her closed, and kissed her. Then laid down on the bed together, Laurel settled against Oliver's chest. "You are home" Oliver said, softly stroking Laurel long hair.


	12. Chapter 12

Moira Queen's trial was nearing a conclusion, as the closing statements for both the prosecution and defense would be would be made by the end of the day. After a brief lunch break, Moira took the stand in defense of herself, subjecting herself to an intense and rather humiliating cross-examination by Kate Spencer. Adam Donner had suffered a serious vertigo overdose and had not recovered, unfortunately losing his life at Starling General. Despite Oliver and Roy's efforts, The Count really was MIA. However, Felicity was able to anonymously blast the entire city an alert telling them to avoid the flu shot vans at all costs. That was probably the best that they could do and Oliver would have to struggle to be okay with that. He couldn't save everyone. 

'Ms. Queen, you claim to have been afraid of Malcolm Merlyn. You say you threatened your family?"

"He did" Moira said. 

"It is my understanding that at some point during your marriage to your late husband, Robert Queen, you had extramarital affair with Malcolm Merlyn, is that true?" 

"Objection? Leading Question" Cecile shouted.

"Objection over-ruled" Judge Mandelbaum barked.

"Y-yes. I did. It was a long time ago" 

"You claim that Malcolm arranged the kidnapping of your now ex-husband, Walter Steele, that took place December of last year?"

"That's correct" Moira answered. 

"But Mr. Steele wasn't harmed while being held in captivity?" 

"No, not seriously injured" Moira confirmed.

"Good to know, Mrs. Queen. Were you aware of Malcolm's intent to abduct Mr. Steele? If so, when were you made aware?" 

"I am going to have to plead the fifth" Moira said after exchanging a look with Cecile. 

"No further questions your honor" Spencer said, smugly. 

"I now ask both the prosecution and defense to present a closing statement, please let me know if a brief recess is needed, if not, we will hear the prosecution's statement first" Judge Mandelbaum said.

After a silence, Kate Spencer began her statement, "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I urge to take a hard look at the woman who is Moira Queen, and The Queen Family. Is the matriarch really a loving mother? Was her family being threatened. It is encouraged to believe that this is not the case. If it was, Walter Steele likely would not be alive. Moira Queen's children, Oliver and Thea, would not be sitting amongst us. You all no what Malcolm Merlyn is capable of, so if her family was really being threatened, the outcome we've seen is highly, highly unlikely. Moira Queen had no reason to fear her former lover, given he that there is no proof that he desired to harm her family. So why? 

Moira Queen was a willing participant in a conspiracy that led to terrorism, costing the lives of 503 innocent people, all because of her infatuation with a mad man. Malcolm Merlyn had Moira Queen in the palm of his hand. His deadly wish, her command. If Moira truly wanted to save the people of The Glades, she could've put a stop to Malcolm's plans, but she didn't. Because let's face it, she admired the madman and still longed for him"

Cecile then went up and made her final statement in defense of Moira. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, today a woman's life is on the line. At the bottom of her heart, a good woman. A mama bear, deeply instilled with family values. I know that each and everyone of you sitting here in this courtroom today would do anything to protect your family, especially after going through what the Queen family had already gone through. How could anybody doubt Moira Queen fear, whether or not they felt there was a reason for it. Moira Queen lost her husband, and her son- what should lead anybody in this room believe that Moira had no reason to be afraid of Malcolm Merlyn. He destroyed her family once and he could do it again. Moira acted in defense of her children, in the only way she could think. Being complicit. Most importantly. Yes, regrettably 503 innocent citizens in our city died because of The Undertaking, but because of Moira Queen, hundreds more had the chance to survive. Because of Moira Queen, the citizens of The Glades were not blindsided". 

Now was the time for the jury to deliberate, and since no one was sure how long that would take, spectators were free to leave. Oliver wanted to spend that time with Laurel. Even with everything that Oliver had going on, Laurel was a constant that remained on his mind. No matter what. 

"Hey Caitlin" he said. "How is she?" 

"She's actually great" Caitlin answered. "She handling the next phase of study gracefully" 

"Next phase" Oliver questioned, with a raise of his eyebrows. 

"Given that we know that her metahuman ability is a sonic cry, we get to move on to giving Laurel complete control of the power. I told her that the decision is hers how to move forward with it, but my boss, Dr. Wells, is encouraging Laurel to use it for good. After all Laurel has confirmed that the meta-gene theory isn't just a theory, and just like Superman did with aliens, Laurel has a chance to not only prove that meta-humans are real, but also that there is no need to fear them" Caitlin explained. 

"And Laurel, what does she think about that?" Oliver asked. 

"I don't know. But she does want to become a master of her ability" Caitlin said. 

Oliver smiled. "Laurel wants to master everything she that she does".

Oliver walked into to see Laurel. "Hey" he said. "You look amazing". 

"C'mon, flattery will get you everywhere" Laurel teased flirtatiously. 

"Everywhere, huh?" Oliver asked, snaking his arms around Laurel as they shared a deep kiss. 

"How's it going, baby?" she asked. 

"The trial? The jury is deliberating and I can't say that I know what is going to happen, but, if this doesn't go our way, I am going to fight" Oliver said. 

"We will, together" Laurel said. 

"Speaking of-" 

Laurel interjected, knowing Oliver well enough to know exactly where he was segwaying. "Caitlin told you, didn't she?" 

"Yes, but I'm not going to what you think I am going to say. I'm proud of you' Oliver said. 

"Well, that really isn't what I thought you were going to say" Laurel said.

"Babe, if you were just a lawyer, it would be different, but I happen to know you better. I know you are a certified graduate of multiple self-defense courses and a top belt in six forms of martial arts. And now, you've got a biological weapon in your arsenal. The Arrow would be insane to not want you on his team" Oliver said. 

"You really feel that way" Laurel said. 

"We've put the days of dishonesty far behind us, haven't we?" Oliver said. 

"Yes" Laurel said, tugging Oliver's collar and bringing him in for a kiss. "I love you" 

"I love you too. That being said. Don't do anything stupid" Oliver said, placing his hand on Laurel's stomach, reminding her of what was most important. 

Laurel pulled him again, for another taste of his lips. "Likewise" "Likewise"

"Crap!" Oliver said, checking his phone. "Robbery at Queen Consolidated, Applied Sciences Division. I gotta go. I love you so much" They kissed one final time. 

When Oliver got there, he joined Diggle and Felicity. "They have sent in a lot of the SCPD already" Felicity informed him.

A young, energetic, man, approached Oliver and held out his hand. "Excuse me, hi. Oliver Queen? I am Barry Allen".


	13. Chapter 13

"Hi, Barry. This is John Diggle, Felicity Smoak. Friends of mine" Oliver said. 

"Hi" Barry said, shaking Diggle's hand. "Hi" he said again, shaking Felicity's hand, this time a small, flirtatious smile forming on his face. 

"Hi" Felicity said, her voice sounding as though she had just awoken from a sleep that had lasted her entire life. 

"Mh-hmm, ///so uh, Barry. Any ideas about who did this?" Oliver asked.

"Whoever it was, according to the witness, was masked and may have had superhuman strength" Barry said. 

"Like superman kinda strength?" Diggle asked. 

"Not quite, no" Barry said. 

"What did the mask look like?" Oliver asked. 

"A skull mask" Barry described. 

"Okay" Oliver leaned over to Felicity. "Why don't you take inventory?"

"You got it, boss" Felicity mumbled. 

"You have any enemies, Mr. Queen?" Barry asked.

"Uh no, not really" Oliver answered. "So, superhuman strength? You believe that?"

"I believe that anything is possible" Barry said. 

"Will the defendant please rise while the verdict is given?" Judge Mandelbaum asked, the following morning in court.

Moira nervously stood and the representative from the jury spoke. "We the jury, find the defendant, Moira Queen, guilty on multiple counts of conspiracy to commit murder and voluntary manslaughter".

Moira appeared not to react at all. Cecile placed her hand on Moira's shoulder. Oliver and Thea both rushed over to be near their mother. 

"Mom, we'll-" Moira cut Oliver off. 

"Oliver, please. Don't. It's okay".

"But I-" Oliver protested. Moira pulled both of her children into a hug. 

"I love you both so much. You are my whole life". Guards came over to place Moira in handcuffs. 

"Sentencing will take place November, 31st, 2013 at 10am" Judge Mandelbaum announced. "Court is adjourned". 

Caitlin took notice of Oliver's facial expression right away when he arrived at Star Labs. "Are you okay?" she asked him. 

"I'm fine, but I need to see Laurel right now" Oliver said.

"Yeah, alright, she..." Before Caitlin could finish her sentence, Oliver had already taken off towards Laurel's living area and found her sitting on her bed. She looked exhausted. Laurel stood up when she saw him only to be wrapped up in her boyfriend's arms. 

"You okay?" She asked. He didn't answer, he just stood there holding her tight. 

Finally after what seemed like an hour, Oliver finally said: "The jury found my mother guilty". 

"Oh my- oh my god, Ollie, I-" Laurel's sentence was interrupted by Oliver's lips crashing into hers. 

"I just want to be with you" Oliver said. 

"I'm right here, Ollie" Laurel cooed, hugging him and rubbing neck. 

In her arms, Oliver felt both safe and vulnerable. He allowed himself to shed a few tears knowing she wouldn't see him any differently. 

"Maybe I can come home tonight" Laurel suggested. "If you... if you need me?" 

"I always need you. But I'll be okay... its okay" Oliver said. A long moment of silence passed between them. "Are you... are you gonna be okay?"

Laurel nodded her head slowly, but she was not able to stop a few hot tears from falling down her face. 

"Why are you crying?" Oliver asked

"I'm sorry-- I" Laurel covered her mouth with her hand. 

"You don't have to apologize. I guess I forgot how much you have been through lately" Oliver asked. 

"I thought I would be stronger... after everything. But this training, I- I can't."

Oliver tucked some of Laurel's hair behind one of her ears. "You are strong, stronger than anyone I have ever met before. You know somebody once told me the strongest metal is forged in the hottest fire" Oliver kissed Laurel's forehead. "You're powerful, Laurel. When this is over, you are going to be a force to be reckon with".

"Thank you" Laurel said. 

That night after Oliver had spent some time at home with his family, he met up with Diggle and Felicity at a local bar near Queen Consolidated. He wasn't talking much, just listening to his friend's conversation. "You okay, Oliver?" Dig asked.

"Yeah, Imma-" Oliver decided not to bother lying. "No". 

"You know we aren't going to relent in this fight for your mother, right?" Diggle said. 

"Yeah. I know. It's about Laurel" Oliver said.

"You guys didn't break up, right?" Felicity asked. 

"No, but I'm worried about her. She's been different" Oliver said. 

"Of course she has" Felicity said. "She's changing, quite literally".

"I know" OIiver said. "Of course I know that. She's in pain. The training has been hard on her... mentally and emotionally... brought to the surface some serious trauma..." 

"Oliver" Felicity said. "You and Laurel are very similar, you both internalize your emotions. Whatever emotions Laurel is experiencing is brand new for her. Give her time to come to terms with it". 

"Your right" Oliver said. 

"I know how much you care about her and I understand your urge to help her, I do" Felicity said. 

"Thank you" Oliver said. "But you are right. Maybe I have done all that I can right now"


	14. Chapter 14

Oliver put money down on the table to cover all the drinks. "You sure?" Diggle asked. 

"Of course I am" Oliver said. 

"Oh no" Felicity said, staring at the screen of her phone. "There is a robbery at the blood bank". 

"Seriously?" Oliver said. "The blood bank? Dig, you have my stuff in your van?" 

"Yeah" Diggle said, and the three of them headed out towards the vehicle. 

Immediately, entering the blood bank, Oliver heard lots of noise. The culprit was not making a point to be stealthy. The noise was coming from the refrigerated room that stored the bank's entire inventory of blood. 

As Oliver made his way towards the door, he notice the hallway leading there was full of carnage. every square inch. Whoever was behind that door had not just killed, but obliterated the guards in pursuit of the blood. The hallway smelled like massacre. 

Oliver placed his hand on the door's handle. "It's frozen" he whispered to Diggle and Felicity through the comms. 

"A cluster bomb arrow should help with that" Felicity said. "But caution, you'll lose any element of surprise". 

Oliver nocked the said trick arrow into his bow and fired at close range. The door slowly opened. 

The man stood there, staring at Oliver and Oliver felt something that he hadn't in a longtime wearing that suit, fear. "Where did you - where did you get that mask?" Oliver choked. 

The mask the man wore was the same mask that haunted Oliver's nightmare for seven years first worn by the sadist who had tortured him, sliced him up mercilessly. Then by Slade Wilson, his friend turned foe. 

"Slade?" Oliver whispered in a somewhat fearful tone. The man wearing the mask kicked the cooler he had been planning to transport the stolen blood in aside and charged towards Oliver.

Oliver was prepared but it didn't matter. The man was of smaller stature than Oliver, but terrifyingly strong. He threw Oliver straight against the wall. The man came charging up to land kick, which Oliver blocked with his arm. The man yanked Oliver up again and and tossed him right into the opposite wall, face-fist. Oliver felt blood begin running from his nose. Hitting the wall, he stumbled back a few steps. The man grabbed Oliver with an arm around his neck, trying to choke him. 

Oliver grabbed the man's thigh, digging his fingers against his leg. It barely seemed to even bother the man, but he let go. Oliver turned around and managed to get one punch in. Oliver's assailant pushed him and lost his footing, hitting the ground again and rolling a few feet away. 

Oliver heard as the man made away with the stolen blood samples. 'Hel-help" he whimpered into his comm. 

Caitlin ran the standard tests on Oliver as he sat on of the beds in the Star Labs med-bay. "You don't know who was wearing the mask? Nothing you saw could help identify him?" Felicity asked. 

"The only thing I recognized was the mask" Oliver said. 

"Sorry" Caitlin said. "But Oliver really needs some rest right now ".

"Of course" Felicity and Diggle agreed. 

Oliver grabbed onto Felicity arm. "Will check on Laurel for me?"

"Yeah" Felicity agreed

"Whoever Oliver went against really did a number on him" Felicity explained to Laurel. "It wasn't normal. Are-are you okay?"

Laurel snapped out of deep thought. "Yeah. Yes, of course, I am. How is he?" 

"Honestly, he seems... scared" Felicity said. "I think you should talk to him"

"I will, but Caitlin is right. Ollie has to rest" Laurel said. "In the meantime, we should focus the guy that did this". 

"What do you mean?" Diggle said as he joined the ladies. "You're not chasing after him" 

"Of course I'm not. I'm pregnant. But that doesn't mean that I am going to do nothing"

"What are you doing? Oliver asked Caitlin

"Swabbing underneath your fingernails" Caitlin explained.

"DNA..." Oliver mumbled. 

"Exactly" Caitlin confirmed. "Cisco and I have access to federal databases. Were going to figure who was under that mask" 

"Good" Oliver said, tension thick in his voice.

Awhile later, Laurel walked in to see Oliver. "Come here" he said and she leaned down and they kissed. "You look good".

Laurel touched Oliver's battered face and then leaned down and kissed his forehead. 

"I'm okay" Oliver said. "You okay?" 

"Worried... about you. Otherwise, I'm great" Laurel replied. Oliver frowned, but he didn't press the issue. "Felicity mentioned the person you fought um- they weren't normal"

"They were wearing this mask... I've seen before, on Lian Yu" Oliver divulged. Laurel nodded her head.

"Slade Wilson's" Laurel guessed. Oliver nodded. Since Laurel revealed that she knew Oliver's other identity, he had revealed to her more of his story than anybody else knew, including Diggle and Felicity. Laurel was the only person who knew that Oliver had not been on the island all his five years missing. "I thought you said you killed him"

"I did kill him" Oliver said. 

"So what, somebody happened to have that same mask here in Starling City" Laurel said. 

"I don't know. I don't know how he had that mask" Oliver said. 

"Is it possible that the arrow through the eye didn't kill Slade like you hoped" Laurel asked. 

"I don't know, but he drowned" Oliver said. "And I destroyed every last drop of Mirakuru".

"What does Mirakuru have to do with this?" Laurel asked. 

"Whoever I was fighting couldn't have been Slade, even if Slade was alive, this guy was small in stature, a little bit lanky..."

"So if Mirakuru wasn't involved-" 

"Mirakuru is the only thing I have ever come across that could explain how that guy... " Oliver's voice trailed off. Laurel reached out and touched Oliver's hand.

"Is it possible someone is making it?" Laurel asked

"I don't know if anyone who knows how to make the stuff is still alive" Oliver wondered. 

"A strong sedative is required to be taken before being injected with Mirakuru. If something is going on with Mirakuru, I need to know where this guy is going to hit next" Oliver explained. "Will you ask Felicity for me?" 

Laurel nodded and kissed Oliver's forehead before exiting the room.


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning, Oliver woke up to Caitlin approaching his bedside. She placed a Styrofoam box on his lap tray. "What's in there?" 

"Breakfast" Caitlin said. "Eggs, bacon, and toast". 

"That sounds-" 

"Don't get to excited, it's hospital quality" Caitlin said.

"Oh" Oliver said. 

"Anyway, I got the result from the DNA. Cecil Adams" Caitlin said

"The Count... I fought The Count". 

"According to the DNA, yes, you did" Caitlin said

"How is that even possible?" Oliver thought out loud to himself.

But he knew exactly how it was possible. 

"Caitlin, I need to go" Oliver said. 

"I don't think that is the best idea, Oliver. You've got healing to do" Caitlin discouraged. 

"Yeah, I know" Oliver said, but he left anyway. 

Oliver arrived in the Arrowcave, so he could briefly talk with Diggle and Felicity, but he didn't expect to see Roy there as well. "Roy. Hey" Oliver said. 

"Yeah, hey" Roy grunted. "Nobody thought to call me and tell me what happened". 

"You were with my sister" Oliver said. 

"And?" Roy asked.

"We just- we didn't think of it... sorry" Diggle said. 

"So I looked at locations all across the city could be our thief's next target, I found two" Felicity shared. 

"Okay" Oliver said. "I suppose I'll stake out one, Roy I guess you'll take the other one".

"Are you sure?" Roy asked. 

"Why wouldn't I be?" Oliver asked. 

"I mean... I don't know... we haven't finished training"

"It's just a stake out, if you see anything. you let me know and I will come take care of it" Oliver said. 

"Oliver-" Felicity interjected. "You have healing to do before you can take care of anything". 

"Being injured never stopped me before" Oliver exclaimed.

Oliver and Diggle took the van to keep eyes on the Starling City ARGUS headquarters. Oliver was supplied with a brand new compound bow. "So uh you have a history with ARGUS. We haven't really talked about that" Oliver said.

"Not much to tell" Diggle said. "My ex-wife holds a pretty high rank at ARGUS. She was recruited out of the military". Oliver nodded. "You? I know you also have a relationship with the organization"

Oliver sighed. "Yes. I um- i've worked with uh-I've worked for ARGUS" 

"When?" Diggle asked. 

"I got involved with ARGUS my third year--missing" Oliver said. 

A moment of silence passed, Diggle lightly tapping his thumb on the steering wheel. 

Roy had driven to the other location that Felicity had come up with. "This had to be some sort of mistake", Roy thought. 

Roy parked his car outside the now abandoned campaign office of Sebastian Blood. Why would Felicity have directed him here. Roy got out of the car and sat on the hood. He knew that was an awful stake out strategy, but there was telling him he needed answers.

Laurel entered the Cortex of STAR Labs where she saw many employees, most of whom she had never seen before, rushing around the facility. "What is going on?" Laurel asked as she approached Dr. Wells and Cisco. 

"Well, in a few hours, I am going to hold a press conference to announce that the particle accelerator is ready for activation" Dr. Wells said proudly. 

"It wasn't supposed to be this soon, but we have Dr. Wells' genius to thank" Cisco gushed.

"Congratulations, Dr. Wells" Laurel said, knowing how much this project meant to the scientist. "Have either of you seen Oliver". 

"Mr. Queen checked himself out this morning" Dr. Wells said. 

"What? Why? Is he okay?" Laurel asked. 

"If it were up to Caitlin, he would still be recovering here" Cisco said. 

It had been too easy for Roy to gain entry to the office, he had practically strolled right through the door. His guard was extremely high. He knew Oliver would roast him for not following his order, but Roy couldn't help his curiosity, especially after he recalled his friend Max's body had been found relatively close to here, with blood leaking out of his eyes. Roy pulled out a drawer, quickly shuffling through folders, finding one labeled, "Mirakuru". Roy opened the folder and felt sick to his stomach. The folder contained a bunch of photos of bodies, one them was Max, and the other bodies were in the same condition. He took the pictures of Max and a picture he believed was Xavier Reed and shoved them in his pocket. He snapped a photo of the folder itself and then he put it back. 

Roy heard a strange noise from outside and cautiously walked stepped out into hallway. A hulking figure stood in there in the dark hallway, a few feet away from Roy. Roy did his best to look intimidating. "He have failed the city" he declared in a deep voice. 

The figure charged at Roy fast, landing a punch that felt like he had crashed head-first into cement. His world went black.


	16. Chapter 16

Roy awoke, bound to a chair. He opened his eyes, and found in himself alone in very small, very dark room. "Hello" he called out. His head ached and throbbed. He heard footsteps and door creak open. 

"Who are you?" Roy asked as a man approached him. The man wore a mask that resembled a skull. Hadn't Oliver said something about a skull mask?

"According to the GPS in Roy's pocket, he is inside the building I sent him to" Felicity explained. "His comm is inactive". 

"Which could mean two things: he's doing something he shouldn't be doing, of he already has and got himself into trouble" Oliver said. "Where did you send him?" 

"This is going to sound weird, but I sent him to an office building. It has been re-purposed many, many times, most recently, it was occupied as a campaign office for Sebastian Blood" Felicity said. 

"Why would you send him there?" Oliver asked. "I asked you to find locations wi-" 

Felicity cut Oliver off. "Yes, I know what you asked me, but I found something. That office has been repurposed--yet again. Cecil Adams and a few others have been squatting there". 

"A few others like who?" Diggle asked. 

"I don't know because they've all been masked, I can't run facial recognition" Felicity said. 

"So instead of following my lead, you sent the newest member of our team with no back up to a dangerous location where he could get killed, without even telling the truth?" Oliver raved. "Felicity, what were you thinking?" 

"I'm sorry, I didn't know who would be going where and I really didn't think Roy wouldn't follow your orders" Felicity said. 

"Well, you clearly set a fantastic example for him" Oliver huffed. "Now tell me where I am going?"

The skull-masked man loomed over Roy. A syringe in hand, the sharp needle glistening in the dark. Roy struggled to speak. "P-please don't".

The man jabbed the needle into a major vein in Roy's neck, causing Roy to scream. 

"The particle accelerator is online" Ronnie announced, proudly. The hard-workers at Star Labs applauded. "Congratulations, Dr. Wells"

"I thank each and every one of you for believing and assisting me in taking what was years ago a thought, a dream and making it the future of Starling City. Caitlin, Ronnie, Cisco, all of you have become my family" Dr. Wells said. 

"Same to you, Dr. Wells" Cisco said. 

"What is that?" Ronnie asked, hearing music from another wing of the building. 

"I started Ms. Lance on the harmonica" Dr. Wells answered. "She practices everyday. It is one of the most important training exercises to strengthen her lungs"

"Right" Ronnie said. "I keep forgetting she is here. I still can't believe what she is capable of". 

"I can't believe how far she has come" Cisco said. "and how fast".

"Ms. Lance is a remarkably quick study" Dr. Wells said. 

"She always has been" Ronnie said. 

"You can go talk to her, you know" Caitlin suggested. 

"I think its better to leave the past... past" Ronnie said.

"Hello" Oliver yelled as he entered the building. "Who's in here?" There was no response as Oliver stormed through the hall. 

"Oliver, please listen, I know your mad at me, but put that anger somewhere else right now. You're on a rescue mission. This is dangerous" Felicity said through the comms. 

Oliver knew that Felicity was right, but he ignored her. 

A man, donning Slade's mask, came bounding down the hallway from the opposite direction. This man was much larger than Cecil Adams. Oliver nocked an arrow in his bow, aiming directly for the eye. "Where is Roy Harper?" he growled.

Before Oliver could shoot him, the mask figure lunged and attacked Oliver. He slammed into the wall. His bow discharged the arrow, it randomly struck the ceiling. 

As Oliver got up, the large man seized Oliver's arm and swung Oliver around his body and to the ground, causing Oliver head to slam on the on the hard floor. Oliver tried immediately to get up, but feeling weak, he backed down.

Caitlin went to visit Laurel in her living area, giving her a quiet applause. Laurel put down her harmonica. "Oh hey" Laurel said, responding with a small chuckle.

"Hey" Caitlin replied. 

"Do I sound good?" 

"Yeah, you do" Caitlin praised. 

"How long has the accelerator been online?" Laurel asked. 

"20 minutes" Caitlin said. 

"You must be so proud of Dr. Wells" Laurel said. 

"Absolutely" Caitlin agreed. "I'm proud of us all. Laurel, Dr. Wells and I talked and we think in the morning, you can check out". 

"Like go home, go back to work...?" Laurel asked. 

"Yes, but we still recommend training both at Star Labs, and outside of Star Labs. But I caution you, please, don't use your cry out of Star Labs. Just because you have enough control to turn it off and turn it on, doesn't mean you know just how much damage it can do" Caitlin said. "Are- are you okay with that?" Caitlin asked. 

"I- mean yes, I'm okay with that. I'm just a little surprised" Laurel said. 

"Completely understandable" Caitlin said. 

"Ahhgh" Laurel grimaced and grabbed her head. "Something- something isn't right" 

"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked, rushing to help Laurel sit on her bed. 

Oliver's attacker moved toward him and squatted down to make sure Oliver was unconscious. As he reached out, Oliver grabbed his hand and flipped him over. He got up and took a few steps back. As the guy got up, Oliver shot him with a bola arrow, wrapping cables around his entire body. 

Oliver knew he couldn't beat this adversary, so restraining him was the next best option. He was tempted to pull the mask off this man, and see who he was, but Roy was more important.

Oliver scrambled over to where Roy was, and noticed he had stopped breathing. Blood continued to dribble down from his eyes. Oliver frantically tried to revive Roy through CPR.

Roy coughed. Oliver breathed in relief. But the relief was short-lived. The blood on Roy's face began to rise into the air, drop by drop. "What the hell?" Oliver whispered to himself. A moment later, a strong wave of energy overtook the building, sending Oliver back several feet.


	17. Chapter 17

Oliver opened his eyes after what felt like had been at least an hour, but had really only been a minute. "Hello?" Oliver called. He waited as a moment of silence passed. Oliver got up and walked to Roy who was still lying on the ground, now slumped over on his side. Oliver felt for Roy's pulse, he found one, but it was dull. 

He picked Roy up onto his shoulder, and as he left the building he noticed that whatever energy he'd felt inside was not confined to the indoors. It looked as though the entire city had felt it. There was no sign of life around the actual area, but there was car parked down the road. . Oliver turned his comm on. "Are you guys alright?" he nearly shouted. 

"Yeah, we're all good" Diggle said. "Was there an earthquake or something?" 

"I have no idea" Oliver said. "But I've got Roy"

"Is he okay?" Felicity asked. 

"No" Oliver said. 

"Oh god" Felicity said.

"I'm going to have to bring him to the hospital" Oliver said. 

"I'll meet you there" Diggle said. "Would you like me to call Thea?" 

"No" Oliver said. "I'll have the hospital call Thea directly. That way she won't ask questions". 

Just as Oliver anticipated, the keys to the car on the side of the road were left in the ignition. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, since Oliver was knowledgeable when it came to hot-wiring vehicles. After quickly changing, Oliver drove through the city toward the hospital. All that could be heard for miles was the sound of sirens.

Oliver parked outside Starling General and saw paramedics were rushing in and out of the hospitals doors, transporting at least a few thousand of injured people.

~3 weeks later~

When Laurel regained consciousness, she was in a hospital bed in Starling General. Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity had congregated around her bed. William sat in a chair near her bed, playing on his iPad. She wasn't sure what had happened, or if her baby was alright, but at least William was.

"The baby..." Laurel mumble

Oliver leaned over and kissed Laurel's forehead.

"It's okay. The baby is okay" Oliver said, smiling with tears glistening in his eyes. 

"No... that's not possible" Laurel said. 

"Yeah, it is, because you're extraordinary" Oliver said.

"What are you talking about?" Laurel asked. She started to try to sit up.

"Relax. It's okay. I'll explain everything" Oliver said. 

"I'm going to see if somebody can bring her some food" Diggle said. 

"I'm starving" Laurel said, just realizing the Oliver opened his eyes after what felt like had been at least an hour, but had really only been a minute. "Hello?" Oliver called. He waited as a moment of silence passed. Oliver got up and walked to Roy who was still lying on the ground, now slumped over on his side. Oliver felt for Roy's pulse, he found one, but it was dull. 

He picked Roy up onto his shoulder, and as he left the building he noticed that whatever had energy he'd felt inside was confined to the indoors. It looks as though the entire city felt it. There was no sign of life around the actual area, but there was car parked down the road. Olive called The Arrowcave. Oliver turned his comm on. "Are you guys alright?" he nearly shouted. 

"Yeah, we're all good" Diggle said. "Was there an earthquake or something?" 

"I have no idea" Oliver said. "But I've got Roy"

"Is he okay?" Felicity asked. 

"No" Oliver said. 

"Oh god" Felicity said.

"I'm going to have to bring him to the hospital" Oliver said. 

"I'll meet you there" Diggle said. "Would you like me to call Thea?" 

"No" Oliver said. "I'll have the hospital call Thea directly. That way she won't ask questions". 

Just as Oliver anticipated, the keys in to the car on the side of the road were left in the ignition. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, since Oliver was knowledgeable when it came to hot-wiring vehicles. After Quickly changing, Oliver drove through the city toward the hospital. All that could be heard for miles was the sound of sirens.

Oliver parked outside Starling General and saw paramedics were rushing in and out of the hospitals doors, transporting at least a few thousand of injured people.

~3 weeks later~

When Laurel regained consciousness, she was in a hospital bed in Starling General. Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity had congregated around her bed. William sat in a chair near her bed, playing on his iPad. She wasn't sure what had happened, or if her baby was alright, but at least William was.

"The baby..." Laurel mumble

Oliver leaned over and kissed Laurel's forehead.

"It's okay. The baby is okay" Oliver said, smiling with tears glistening in his eyes. 

"No... that's not possible" Laurel said. 

"Yeah, it is, because you're extraordinary" Oliver said.

"What are you talking about?" Laurel asked. She started to try to sit up.

"Relax. It's okay. I'll explain everything" Oliver said. 

"I'm going to see if somebody can bring her some food" Diggle said. 

"I'm starving" Laurel said, just realizing the discomfort of her empty stomach. 

"I would be worried if you weren't" Oliver said. "You've been asleep for 3 weeks". 

"Another coma?" Laurel said. "Why?" 

"The particle accelerator that Star Labs built exploded" Oliver said "You were there"

"It exploded?" Laurel asked. "Is everyone okay? Is Caitlin?" 

"You saved Caitlin's life" Oliver said. 

"How?"

"According to her, you used your powers to create a sonic blast shield around her and yourself. If you hadn't, you would likely be dead, all 3 of you" Oliver explained, lightly patting Laurel's bump.

"Oh god" Laurel whispered. "Is she... can I see her?" 

"I'll ask her to come visit you soon" Oliver said. 

Diggle walked back into the hospital room with an aide who was carrying a tray of food. "Welcome back to the waking world, Ms. Lance. How are you feeling?" 

Laurel exhaled. "Alright, I guess" Felicity left the room. "... did I offend her?" Laurel asked, taking a sip of her water. 

"Of course not" Diggle said and he looked at Oliver. "I'll go see what's going on with her"

Late that night, after tucking William into bed at home, Oliver entered the Arrowcave and found Diggle and Felicity watching the local news. Oliver touched Felicity's shoulder and she turned around. Oliver hugged her. 

"Uh, what is-"

Oliver interrupted Felicity. "Diggle told me what you told him. I'm really sorry. I had no idea" 

"Oh. It's okay, Oliver. I mean it is just dating... I wouldn't say it's like we're in a relationship. I have not done the whole relationship in a longtime" Felicity said.

"Well Barry seemed like a good guy" Oliver said.

"He is, he's wonderful" Felicity said.

"How bad are Barry's injuries?" Oliver asked. 

"Well, he was struck directly by lightning and he has been going in and out of cardiac arrest" Felicity informed him and Oliver shook his head. 

"I'm so sorry" Oliver said. 

Felicity nodded. "How's Roy?" 

"Speedy updated me. He's stable, but he's not awake. Listen Felicity, I know that you were probably hurt by how I acted when I found you acted outside of my direction. I'm sorry, I was probably too hard on you" Oliver admitted. 

"No, you weren't. You were right. I could've gotten Roy killed. If he dies from his injuries, that'll be on me" Felicity said. 

"No, it will be one Star Labs" Oliver said. 

Diggle cleared his throat. "What does Thea think about the circumstances of Roy's injuries?" 

"She's not really asking questions" Oliver said.

"And how long do you think that will last?" Diggle said.

"I prefer not to think about it" Oliver said, as he poured himself a drink. His began to buzz. "Excuse me"

"Who was that?" Felicity asked, when Oliver returned.

"My uncle" Oliver replied, with a blank expression on his face. "They're calling off the search for Ronnie and declaring him deceased".


End file.
